Each Other's Lifelines
by 8DemigodRunner8
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have fallen into Tartarus, a place filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes, including a certain spider-human hybrid that can't let go of a grudge and an all-too familiar sleeping goddess out to destroy the world. Can the demigod couple make it out alive? And if they do, will they ever be the same? Rated T for violence and injury. Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
1. The Fall

**Hey everyone! So this is my first FanFic, and I hope you all like it! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus; all rights go to Uncle Rick. This is simply my interpretation of Percabeth's time in Tartarus.**

**Don't worry, throughout the chapters I WILL switch between Percy and Annabeth's POVs. **

**Now, on with the show!**

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Annabeth's POV

_"-And then Percy let go of the ledge…"_

Annabeth had planned to keep her cool on the way down. One look in Percy's stubborn, sea-green eyes, and she had known his plan. That he planned to let go. That he'd never lose her and wouldn't let her leave his side ever again. And for Nico and the rest of her friends' sake, she'd decided not to scream once her boyfriend let them drop.

Of course, that plan flew out the window faster than the speed of their falling. Annabeth let out a screech of terror moments after Percy let go, the wind snatching at her clothes and pulling at her hair, whipping her face and stinging her eyes. And she was already in pain.

Only moments ago she'd briefly blacked out from the agony in her ankle, which she had broken maybe an hour or so before, and she felt as if it just might happen again. Hope was leaving her heart quick, and the only thing keeping her sane at all was Percy.

He was still gripping her hand, though he'd tensed up a considerable amount after letting go.

Percy. Oh my gods, no one could've asked for a better, more noble boyfriend. He'd had the chance to escape, he would've been able to survive longer up above with the rest of the Argo II crew, if he'd just let go. But he hadn't. He'd fallen down a dark, seemingly bottomless void with her. Knowing it was indeed _not_ bottomless, and in fact opened up into a demon-infested prison known only as Tartarus.

And so, as the couple plummeted down into the earth, it didn't take long for all light around them to be snuffed out. They hadn't had much light to begin with, what with Arachne's lair being underground, and soon even the spider's old torches could not be seen. Blackness surrounded the couple, growing to the point at which it became suffocating and neither demigod could see a thing. It felt like the walls were closing in on them, though both half-bloods knew that they weren't. In fact, they couldn't even tell if they had their eyes open or not; the only reassurance they had that the other was even there was their tight grip on each other's wrists.

The temperature seemed to be dropping by the second, and Annabeth felt Percy shiver.

"Percy?" Annabeth whispered, feeling the need for hushed voices.

"Yeah?" he replied, also whispering. It was even harder to hear each other because of how quickly their voices were swept away by the wind.

"How…how long do you think the fall is?"

"I don't know," came his solemn reply. "I just hope-"

Suddenly, an ominous laugh echoed throughout the pitch black pit, cutting Percy off. Annabeth sucked in a breath. Where was that voice coming from? Soon, the laughter gave way to slowly spoken words, sounding a tad slurred.

"_Falling,_

_Falling,_

_Welcome to my domain," _it said, ringing out through the blackness and rattling about in Annabeth and Percy's heads.

Percy gasped audibly and muttured, "Oh no."

"What?" Annabeth questioned; she felt as if she should know the owner of that voice, but she was still in shock from her traumatizing time on her solo quest, and her brain was too stunned to process the sound.

"Gaea," Percy supplied.

"_Silly little pawns. _

_You are falling through the _Earth.

_Where I rule…where my followers dwell. _

_However… I cannot visit you personally in Tartarus,_

_So my minions must collect you for me._

_Sacrifices for my awakening._

_You will die."_

"Shut up, Dirt Face," Percy snapped out into the darkness. Gaea laughed again.

_"So naïve._

_Do you realize where you're headed?_

_Do you remember why you even fell in the first place?"_

It was Annabeth's turn to gasp. Why had they fallen? _Because Arachne had pulled her in._ And who do you think was down there, waiting for her prey to arrive? That's right, the creepy spider-human hybrid who had a bone to pick with Athena's children. Especially, now, one in particular…

"Percy, Arachne's down there," Annabeth responded, unable to hide the quiver in her voice. She was met with silence. Even Gaea had seemed to stop talking. "Percy?"

He simply squeezed her hand as a reply, not able to form the rights words for their situation.

With an evil laugh, Gaea spoke once more:

"_Enjoy these last few moments of peace, my pawns._

_After you hit the ground, you're in for…a special treat."_

Annabeth could almost see Gaea's villainous smile as she watched her sacrifices drop to their doom.

The air flying by them felt like icicles charging upwards, burning their skin with an odd, cold sensation. Annabeth shuddered and searched the darkness for even a small glimpse of Percy's face. She saw nothing, and instead her eyes were met with a crushing, terrifying void of blackness, withering away at her consciousness and even her life. Dead people were supposed to go to Tartarus. Despicably cruel dead people, but dead people nonetheless. She and Percy were neither dead nor evil. What would happen to them? What would being in such a dangerous, hate-filled environment do to them? Would they become _dead_, like everyone else there?

"Annabeth?" Percy finally said, his voice mumbled and scared, though he was obviously trying to hide it.

"Yes?"

"What happens at the bottom? Will we…will we die from the impact?"

Annabeth had thought about this already, being the child of Athena she was, but even she had no solution to their predicament. At the speed they were falling, and assuming the ground was flat, they'd be squashed rather painfully.

"Let's just hope that there's something there to break our fall," Annabeth replied, not wanting to admit her defeat. She knew that there was a good chance she and Percy could die any minute now.

Well, that'd been true her whole life, the possibility of having your life end at any minute. But at least then she'd had the benefit of the doubt. Now, she knew that death was right around the corner.

"I want you t-to know," Annabeth started, her voice catching as she held back desperate tears. "That I love you. I always have and always will, Percy."

"I love you too, Annabeth. Always have and always will." With that, he pulled her hand closer to him so that her body drifted up next to his. With his free hand, he grabbed her around the waist and then hesitantly let go of her hand in order to find her face.

After a few seconds of blindly feeling for her head (not to mention a rough hit in the nose), Percy pulled her closer and kissed her.

They remained like that, wind tearing at their already torn Camp Half-Blood tees and blowing their hair straight above their head. Annabeth no longer felt the cold air around her; she only felt the warmth emanating from her boyfriend. He still smelled like the ocean, and his lips were still salty, just like they had been during their first kiss.

After a few seconds more, he pulled away once more, though he still held on to her waist.

That's when Annabeth started to feel a change in the air around them. There seemed to a cross breeze, angling slightly to the left of being straight down. Her scientific mind went to work, and she realized that the air must be running down a slope, no matter how minor, for the air to shift like that. With a smile, she realized that they wouldn't be flattened, although her moment of relief was short lived as she remembered what was still going to happen.

Knowing that Seaweed Brain wouldn't consider the change in the wind anything major, she shouted, "Percy!" in an attempt to make him alert. They were about to land in Tartarus, whether they'd like to or not.

Before he or she could say another word, the wall of the pit brushed up against Percy's arm.

"Ah!" he yelled as the rocks cut at his skin and bruised his arm. He tried to kick away from the wall, but soon it steeply curved, though not enough to kill them on impact. The couple, still gripped together, slammed onto the slope and continued to slide down, dirt now flying up into their faces rather than air.

Upon the impact, Percy let out another scream, probably from both himself and Annabeth landing on his hurt arm, _the one that was holding on to her_, and he let go in pain. Immediately realizing his mistake, Percy screamed, "ANNABETH!" as she slid farther away from him.

"PERCY!" came her strangled reply, rough dirt and rocks scraping up her back as she slide down the slope. She reached out to grab him but was already too far away. There seemed to be a flickering light down below, like a torch with a flame- a very faint, dull one, at that- signaling the bottom of the pit. Tartarus.

Annabeth felt a sharp tug on her injured ankle, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut in a vain attempt to block the pain, and suddenly she knew why she was drifting away from Percy. Arachne was roping her in, like a cow with a lasso.

"Annabeth, where are you?" came a yell from somewhere to her right. The torch below did little to erase the pressing darkness of the pit; Annabeth still couldn't see Percy, and his voice sounded as if she was sliding even farther and farther away from him.

"Percy!" she yelled one last time before the slope cut off drastically into a straight cliff, dumping her over the edge. She heard a quiet scream that could only have been Percy also dropping off the cliff far away. Annabeth herself let loose a shriek as she tumbled back into the open air.

She barely got a chance to register the fact that the ground was gaining on her quickly before she hit it with enough force to knock her out. Her last thought before she completely blacked out was, _I hope Percy's okay._

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**And that's where I end for today :) . You'll just have to wait a bit longer to find out what happens next.**

**Where's Percy? What about Arachne? And is Annabeth okay?**

**All will soon be answered in Chapter 2.**

**Now, a few things I'd like to mention:**

**1. My knowledge of how wind flows down a slope is limited, so I did my best with describing it. It may not be scientifically accurate, but it makes for a better story ;) .**

**2. If you have any ideas for this story, I'd be happy to here them, so please post a review! Keep in mind that not all ideas may be incorporated into the story, 'cause I DO have a plot I'm following, but I'll try my best. Constructive criticism is also welcome.**

**Please review!**

**Until next time, fellow readers!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	2. Arachne

**Hi again! Here's Chapter 2-Arachne.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympains/Heroes of Olympus**

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Percy's POV

Percy screamed as he was dumped off the cliff. He, unlike Annabeth, was lucky enough to remember to tuck into a roll for his landing. It was still rough, but he remained mainly uninjured and didn't get knocked out. Finishing his roll, he ended in a stance on one knee, his grimy black hair falling in his eyes.

Finally he stood, brushing off his jeans, as if that'd do anything to remove the cuts in the fabrics and stains of dirt and dried blood. Percy was incredibly angry with himself. He'd screwed up. Big time.

How could he possibly have let Annabeth go? He'd promised to never part from her, to never let her leave again. And now, because he was too much of a wimp to suffer through a possibly broken arm, he'd lost her. _Some boyfriend I am,_ Percy thought with a sigh. _Annabeth could be hurt right now_. _Or…_Percy gulped. _Or dead._

No. She was NOT dead. Percy knew his best friend in the entire world was tougher than that. He would find her, and not only because she needed him. He needed her.

Holding her hand on the way down to this wretched place was his only connection to hope, to life. If he lost her for good, he'd go crazy down here. He already felt his sanity slipping away, worry gnawing at his mind and clouding his thoughts with doubt and hopelessness. Tartarus was beginning to affect him, and he'd only been down there for a minute.

It was strangely ironic; this was the second time in Percy's life in which Annabeth had acted as his 'lifeline.' She'd also, in a way, saved him when he took a dip in the River Styx, down in the Underworld. Or, should he say, up in the Underworld. He was fairly sure that Tartarus was even farther down in the Earth than Hades' realm.

_Great,_ Percy thought bitterly. _We're even more surrounded by Gaea's power than ever._ Shaking his head, he decided to bring himself out of his self-pity and find Annabeth. How could he have let himself get so distracted at a time like this? Annabeth was in danger, and he had to save her.

Looking around, Percy took in his surroundings. It was still too dark to see much (What was with this place? Was there a lack of an evil electrician to put in some lighting or something?), and the only way Percy could see anything at all was with the help of the few torches placed at 10-yard intervals, branching off both to his left and right. They were mounted on small stone pillars, each holding a bowl of dim flame, threatening to blow out at any second. Below Percy's feet, small animal bones littered the brown and grey cobblestone flooring, which began at the base of the cliff and extended out past the visible areas of Tartarus.

Percy heard no sound, which could be considered good news and bad news. Good news: no immediate monsters. Bad news: he couldn't hear Annabeth. Percy's heart skipped a beat at the thought of the daughter of Athena.

Was she in trouble? What if her voice was so raw from screaming on the way down that she couldn't call for help? What if a monster had already eaten her? What if Arachne had killed her, or wrapped her in webbing, or whatever spider-women do. What if-

No, this had to stop. No more "What if's." He _had_ to find her.

Percy reached into his right pocket and pulled out a certain ball-point pen, clicked it once, and soon held the celestrial bronze sword titled Anaklusmos. It's soft glow was a comforting sight to Percy, slightly easing his anxiety. Now, which way had Annabeth fallen? He remembered her sliding away- he shuddered at the thought- to his left, so he turned and sprinted off in that direction.

Almost immediately, Percy let a cry of pain. His left arm, which he'd been swinging as he ran, let loose a burst of pain with every movement. It felt as if it were on fire and being stabbed at the same time- not a very fun feeling. It had been the arm that had skidded up against the wall of the pit and smashed underneath Percy's and Annabeth's bodyweight. Twisting it around as he slowed his running speed, he saw that it was cut up and bruised, and most likely the bone was fractured.

Percy refused to let this slow him down; fighting the pain, he pulled his arm up to his side and across his chest, in such a position that a sling would hold it, and poured back on the speed. Annabeth couldn't be too far ahead, could she?

At last, Percy saw a crumpled figure lying on the old, rustic stones on the horizon. Before he could stop himself, Percy called out, "ANNABETH!"

It had been a dumb move to do something like that, Percy realized afterwards. He'd probably alerted every monster within a mile-radius that fresh meat was available, but Percy didn't care. His best friend, as well as girlfriend, was hurt, and she needed help.

Percy did a baseball-slide as he reached her, sliding right up next to her unconscious body. Setting his bronze sword down, Percy used his uninjured hand to roll her onto her back. She flinched in her sleep but didn't wake up.

"Oh my gods, Annabeth, don't die on me," Percy muttured, his green eyes wide in fear. He brushed a strand of her curled blonde hair off her face, which looked fairly peaceful, considering their situation.

"C'mon, Annabeth," he pleaded. "Wake up." Percy had no ambrosia, no nectar to aid her in her recovery. He scolded himself for not remembering to have some with him at all times; who knew when a dilemma like this would arise and he'd desperately need it?

Percy used two fingers and layed them on her upper neck, checking for a pulse. After a few heart-wrenching seconds, he felt a heartbeat. A weak one, but a heartbeat nonetheless.

"Oh, thank the gods," Percy sighed. She'd live. He used his free arm and wrapped it under her armpit, dragging her over to the cliff. Percy sat her upright against it, and then sat down next to her.

His eyes drifted tiredly over her body, searching for any injuries he could tend to. He saw nothing but scrapes and little cuts, but nothing serious. Then he saw her ankle.

_What kind of splint is _that, he thought as he saw her makeshift contraption of wood and bubble wrap. Studying first how she had put it on so that he could fix it later, the demigod cautiously removed her "cast." Her ankle was purple and swollen, not to mention her foot was bent at an odd angle. Percy swallowed down his disgust; it was not a pretty sight. That's when he saw it. A thin thread was connected to Annabeth's ankle, slithering across the floor in loops and twirls away into the darkness. If he stared at it too long, he'd lose sight of it, but every once in awhile it'd catch the light of the nearest torch and shimmer, reappearing to his eyes.

_A spider web strand,_ Percy mused interestedly. Wait a second. A spider web strand? Arachne! Percy fumbled forward and reached for his sword, swinging it high above his head and arching it down with way more force than necessary onto the strand that had been the cause of their fall, cutting it easily. With a sharp clang, the sword rang against the stones, vibrating in Percy's hand. A deeper silence than before filled the air, creating a tension so thick it'd recquire Percy's sword rather than a knife to be cut.

A hiss echoed from the darkness, and Percy launched to his feet, Riptide in hand and left arm cradled.

"Percy Jackson," the hissing monster said with a chuckle. "The most feared demigod of this century." Slowly, creeping from the shadows came a hairy black leg covered in spikes, followed by another, then another. A body slid out of the shadowy depths, resembling a spider's abdomen with the torso and head of a woman. Her narrowed eyes glared menacingly at Percy, and her stringy brown hair was matted and covered in cobwebs.

"I have only known you as described by my children, or else that tapestry would never have been created, and it is an honor to meet you at last," she growled sarcastically.

"Arachne," Percy spat, glaring at the monster. On instinct he stepped in front of Annabeth, ready to fight and protect her, even if it cost him his life.

"Normally, Gaea would've liked for me to capture you alive; sacrifices can't be made with dead demigods. However, she'll just have to choose one of the others. This chance is one I can't resist." With a shriek, the spider lunged forward, reaching out for Percy. Quickly, he slashed at her hand with his sword, slicing it open and drawing blood. Looking at this creature, he felt ready to puke. Spiders were absolutely disgusting, especially blown up to a hundred times their size. He couldn't possibly imagine the fear Annabeth must've felt at meeting this…this _thing_.

Recoiling back, Arachne hissed. She jumped forward for a second attempt, but Percy just jabbed his sword at her and caused her to retreat yet again.

"Like being on defense, eh, Son of Poseidon?" Then Arachne noticed the girl sitting behind Percy, eyes shut and propped up against a dirt wall.

"Well if it isn't Annabeth, the trickster of Olympus and overall brat."

"She's not a brat!" Percy shouted, already angry with this woman. "She's one of the best people I know!" With a yell as his battle cry, Percy charged forward, ready to do whatever it took to keep Arachne away from Annabeth. He bravely swung at Arachne's legs, making contact and giving her a nasty cut. With a howl of frustration, she brought back one of her seven other legs and kicked Percy away.

Percy screamed and slid across the stones. He'd tried to use his left hand to break his fall, shooting another blast of fire through his arm.

"_Di immortales,"_ Percy groaned, rolling his eyes. He shakily stood up and stormed over to Arachne. Unfortunatly, there was no nearby water, and even the air held little moisture, giving Percy only his swordsmanship to use to keep him alive in this battle.

Arachne, on the other hand, had multiple advantages. She was taller than Percy, and therefore she could see far and wide, leaving him no place to hide. On multiple occasions, she shot web at the boy, grabbing onto his leg and tripping him or latching onto his shirt to pull him back. Each time she did though, Percy quickly whipped around and sliced the strand in two.

Percy was quickly growing tired. He'd just fought a giant up in Rome before falling and crash-landing into Tartarus. Admittedly, he was not at his full strength, and therefore not at his best game.

"I thought," pondered Arachne, stomping on the spot where Percy had stood moments before, "that the famous half-blood-." She stomped again, Percy narrowly avoiding her spiky legs. "-son of Poseidon and slayer of monsters-" Yet another stomp, this one grazing Percy's already scrapped up back, causing him to grimace. "-would put up more of a FIGHT!"

Arachne flung a web strand at his sword hand, yanking him towards her. The force of it and surprise made Percy drop Riptide, much to his dismay and worry.

She kicked him to the ground and planted two feet on his chest and two by his sides, making it impossible for him to squirm away and free himself.

Arachne laughed, bending down so that her nasty breath could be felt on his face. "Once I finish with you, I'll eat your little girlfriend next."

"No!" Percy screamed, despretely wiggling around and kicking his feet, trying everything and anything to get away.

"You can't stop me!" she grinned evilly. Percy stared into her nasty, black, beady eyes, portraying an amazing amount of hatred in just a glare, and spit on her face.

"Ah!" Arachne exclaimed, using her fifth leg to wipe the saliva off her already hideous face. "Why, you little-"

Suddenly, Arachne let out a ear-piercing shriek, launching up off of Percy's body and stumbling around before she dropped to the ground, shaking and flailing helplessly.

"What? How!" she wailed as she began to transform into dust. "Not by her hand! Not by that _girl_!"

Percy was immensely confused, and moments before she disappeared for good, Percy saw a familiar dagger jutting out of her abdomen. Her dusty remains blew away in an invisible wind, leaving the dagger to clatter onto the stones.

"By her hand?" Percy mumbled, turning to look behind him. There stood Annabeth, now fully awake, glaring at the spot where Arachne had stood. She was standing in a position with her arm outstretched in front of her, as if she had just thrown something.

"Perfect timing," Percy said with a smirk.

"Honestly, what would you do without me?"

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**There you go! Annabeth's alright (Yay!) and Arachne had been defeated. Or has she? Get ready for Chapter 3 of Each Other's Lifelines.**

**I'd like to thank Troyellalovefan for the Favorite and HaloHead77 for the Follow! I truly appreciate it, and it feels amazing to know that people have read and like your story :) .**

**All favorites, follows, and reviews are appreciated and encouraged!**

**See you all soon for Chapter 3!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	3. A New Part of Tartarus

**Hi again! Sorry this one took awhile to publish; I was at a bit of a Writer's Block. Now, however, I've got momentum again and have planned the next few chapters. Just an FYI, I'm going to be on Vaca this next couple of days, so I won't be updating :( On the bright side, I believe this is my longest chapter yet! WooHoo!**

**And now...Chapter 3!**

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Annabeth's POV

When she had sluggishly opened her eyes, Annabeth had been greeted with the terrifying sight of seeing her boyfriend about to be devoured by Arachne.

Annabeth was still sore from her hard fall, and her head was throbbing like crazy, but she had managed to bring out her knife, get to her feet, and chuck it as hard as she could at the spider.

Since Arachne had been leaning down, her abdomen was in plain view, and therefore was impaled with Annabeth's dagger, to Arachne's utter surprise and the demigods' delight.

Now, Annabeth was smiling at Percy, who looked so relieved to see her awake, and she rushed forward to grip him in a hug.

"Annabeth," Percy suddenly sobbed, gripping her hard as if she might leave him again. "I'm so sorry! I was an idiot for letting you go, I-"

"Percy, Percy, it's okay! I don't blame you! In fact, I'm incredibly sorry for dragging you into this mess in the first place."

Percy held her shoulders and moved her forward so that he could look in Annabeth's stormy grey eyes. She noticed that his were puffy and red from his tears of apology.

"I would never let you fall down here alone. _Ever_. "

This time, Annabeth felt tears well up in her eyes. She smiled and hugged him again.

They stayed like that for awhile, engaged in a tight hug, arms wrapped snugly around each other, taking comfort in each other's presence. Who knew when the next time would be for them to simply enjoy each other and not be running for their lives.

A far away growl caught their attention and snapped them back into reality.

"Um, we should probably head out," Annabeth stated.

They let go of each other and looked around, leading to Percy's asking of, "So…where should we go? I can't see 10 feet in front of me, much less know where the Doors are."

"I…I don't know. I wish we had a map or something. I don't even know if we landed on the edge of Tartarus or in the middle!"

"Maybe we could ask for directions?" Percy said, laughing a bit at his joke and standing up. Annabeth, even though she found the comment funny, didn't laugh. She sat on the floor, staring aimlessly off into the distance. How _would_ they find the Doors of Death-their only escape? She knew nothing about this place. No one did, except…Nico.

"Percy, can you sense any water nearby? Any at all?" She had a plan. Percy, looking a little confused with her request but deciding not to question it, closed his eyes and mentally reached out around him.

In just a few seconds, he opened his eyes and pointed straight behind him, into the darkness.

"I think there's a small lake of some sort down that way. It feels a long way away, though."

"Perfect. That's our heading." Annabeth planned to Iris message Nico and see what he knew about the layout of this monster-filled land. As she tried to stand, she accidently put weight on her hurt ankle and cried out, dropping back to her knees. Percy rushed forward and helped her up, letting her lean on him heavily.

"Where…what happened to my splint?" Annabeth asked, looking down at her bare and swollen ankle.

Sheepishly, Percy nudged his head towards the cliff, where a bundle of bubble-wrap and other odds and ends were pushed against the wall. "I, uh, was checking on your ankle. I didn't have time to put the stuff back on yet because I was busy fighting off a spider lady who hates our guts."

"Well, actually you were busy getting _beaten_ by her, but it's the thought that counts." Annabeth laughed when Percy rolled his eyes at her snarky comment.

As they walked over to the cliff once again, Annabeth noticed Percy holding his arm across his stomach, trying to keep it completely still.

He began setting her down again when she asked, "Are you okay? What happened to your arm?"

"Oh, this? I might've done something to it when we hit the slope…that's all, no biggie."

"But-"

"It doesn't matter; what we _should_ be concerned about is your ankle." Percy knelt down and began fumbling with his limited supplies, rebuilding the splint around his girlfriend's blue and purple ankle.

"Percy, I know you're hurt; you can't hide that from me."

"Even if you do know, what are we supposed to do about it? We've got no supplies, no ambrosia, nothing at all!" Percy snapped. Seeing the shocked expression on Annabeth's face after his rant, Percy sighed and sat back on his ankles, finished with the splint. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm just frustrated, that's all."

"It's okay, Percy. Just try and think as positively as you can down here. If we become pessimists, this is going to be a _long_ journey."

Percy helped Annabeth up so that she was leaning on his right, where he could wrap his good arm around her.

"Okay, I'll try. Let's go."

The couple slowly made their way to the edge of the light, where it broke off into complete and utter darkness.

"You ready?" Annabeth gulped.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

And with that, the two half-bloods entered the unknown.

Immediately, the torch-holding pillars behind them were extinguished by a harsh wind, dropping the world into blackness once more.

Percy, still aiding Annabeth, led them both over to where the torch would've been. Both of them reached out to feel for it, for anything to steady them in this new world of black nothingness, but surprisingly the torch wasn't there. At all.

Steadying herself, Annabeth let go of Percy and hobbled over to the previous point of the torch's existence. There was no pillar, no torch remains, nothing. It was as if…as if it had all diseappeared. As if they had shifted into a different part of Tartarus.

"Annabeth?" Percy called, getting anxious with no way of knowing where Annabeth had walked off to.

"I'm still here, just give me a sec."

An idea had struck Annabeth, and she shuffled over to where the cliff should have been. Thrusting her arms out, she felt nothing. Cold air had replaced the wall, along with the torches.

Bending down so that she could feel the ground, Annabeth discovered that the old, cobblestone flooring onto which they'd arrived had morphed into hard-packed dirt.

"Percy…" Annabeth started, struggling to find the right words to describe what had just happened.

"Yeah?" he called loudly from a few feet away, obviously unaware that Annabeth was within reaching distance.

"We've somehow teleported away from the cliff entrance into a different part of Tartarus. There must've been a magic barrier of some sorts at the edge of the light that sent us away."

Percy blindly walked forward, planning to join Annabeth again, but ended up tripping over her knelt body.

"Gah!" Percy yelped as he almost face-planted into the dirt.

"Watch out, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth laughed, despite the circumstances.

"Annabeth, this is…this is dirt. It's not stone anymore!" Percy commented as his hands dug into the soil he'd fallen on to.

"I know; that's how I figured out that we're no longer at the entrance. The cliff and torches have also disappeared."

"So then…where are we?"

"I have no idea."

They sat on the dirt floor in silence for a minute before they suddenly became aware of something…something they should not have already forgotten about.

Growls and screams sounded off in the distance, coming from all around. The occasional explosion rocked the floor, and cries of anguish, frustration, and rage echoed throughout the darkness. The terrifying noises emanating from the thousands of monsters sent shivers of fear down Percy's and Annabeth's spines. It was as if they could _feel_ death just waiting to attack and end their lives.

"What now?" Percy asked.

Annabeth hesiated in an attempt to remember what it was they had been looking for. "We need to find that lake you sensed. So, I guess…we just follow your nose," she replied, for lack of a better way to describe Percy's sensing of the lake.

"For the fruity taste that shows," Percy mumbled, smiling at his corny quoting of the colorful Fruit Loops Toucan.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

They silently stood and began their trek to the lake. Not being able to see anything was pretty dangerous, actually. They continually tripped and stumbled over rocks and ditches that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Suddenly, Percy gasped, and Annabeth heard his palm smack his forehead. "What was I thinking? I _have _some light!" He shoved his hand in his pocket and whipped out Riptide, clicking the pen into a full-blown sword. It's bronze glow was enough to illuminate the two demigods' faces and the nearby ground.

"It's not much, but its better than nothing," Annabeth sighed as they continued to walk. Her ankle sent hot flashes of pain up her leg with each step, and she audibly cried out once when she'd accidently put too much weight on it.

"Here, I've got an idea," Percy said hurriedly at seeing his girlfriend's eyes fill with tears of pain. He put on arm around her back and another under her legs and lifted, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her bridal style.

"No more suffering," he said proudly, but in the light of his sword, Annabeth saw the stress and pain that made itself clear in his eyes. _Oh my gods, his arm!_ Annabeth realized. He was carrying her using his injured arm, and that couldn't have felt good.

She felt him shaking with determination to keep her up, and he began to walk forward again.

Feeling horrible for the pain she was putting him through, Annabeth tried to climb out of his grasp, saying, "Percy, I know this hurts you. Let me down."

"No," Percy said immediately, readjusting her so that she lay comfortably again. "I'm fine, really." Annabeth knew he was lying through his teeth, but in his voice she heard the stubbornness he had to not set her down.

"Percy-"

"I've got this, Annabeth."

She sighed and decided to make the best of it. Leaning onto his chest, she had to admit to herself that it was heaven being off her ankle, and she was still groggy and tired from her recent knock out. In fact, before that she had just finished her quest to find the Mark of Athena too, which had been very taxing, so sleep would feel wonderful right now. She felt her eyes close despite themselves, and she soon slipped into a deep sleep.

Percy's POV

Percy walked on by the faint, glowing light of his sword. He hadn't let on just how much his arm hurt when he held Annabeth, and her weight, even though it was not much, sent electric shocks up his arm each second.

_It isn't that bad,_ Percy scolded himself, readjusting Annabeth yet again. _You've held up the sky, for crying out loud. You've bathed in the Styx. Putting weight on a broken arm is nothing._ And still, he had to clench his teeth to hold in his shouts of pain.

After five minutes of walking through almost pitch black, Percy saw a strange light up ahead. It was a bright orange column, shooting up into the air for a few seconds before disappearing again. Then a second column would shoot up, though to the left of the previous one. Then a third, far behind the second. Next a fourth, over to the right again.

"What is that?" Percy asked nobody, coming to a halt. He squinted, trying to make out what the odd fiery columns were. They never seemed to last long, five seconds at most. They appeared to be springing up from the ground, much like geysers. With each shot, they sounded out a faint boom. He bet if Annabeth had been awake she'd know what they were.

A big one suddenly shot up 20 feet away from Percy, it's boom a distinctly louder. _Woah,_ he thought, tripping slightly in a hurry to back away. _They're getting closer._ With a start, Percy realized he felt…heat from it.

_What the-_ Before Percy could finish his thought, the ground below him shook violently, raising upwards in a slope. "Hey!" the demigod exclaimed, trying to steady himself on the moving ground. Annabeth surprisingly remained asleep.

With a deafening blast, a wall of orange and red lava shot up from the ground, splitting away the dirt and reaching high into the sky.

Percy screamed as the blast shoved him backwards, the heat searing his whole frontside. _Lava geysers!_ Percy thought, his heartbeat doubling in time. He landed on his butt, Annabeth collapsing onto his lap. She stirred but didn't wake.

_Heavy sleeper,_ Percy scoffed. This time, he had no time to react as the ground beneath him shook again and a lava geyser exploded behind him. He let out a blood-curdling shriek with this one as it seared his back and singed his hair. Percy was knocked forward, rolling down the geyser's mound.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried, crawling over to her and shaking her now hot body. Well, she'd always been hot to him, but he meant temperature this time. "_Annabeth!"_ he screamed as the ground below him shook once again and began to rise…

* * *

**And I leave you with a cliffhanger. Muahahaha! So this time I was able to fit both of their POV's into this chapter! Next time I believe I'll be continuing from Percy's POV, since I enjoy writing in his mindset better. **

**Time for Thank-You's!**

**Thanks to Siria Nera, Scarlet1474, and Hinata001 for the follows, thank you Hinata001 for the favorite as well, and thank you Sammy7300 for the review! That review made me smile from ear to ear :) . I appreciate those comments so much, really! The fact that you all took time to review, favorite, or follow my story is amazing, and I can't give you all enough thanks! **

**Please continue to read and review (constructive criticism is welcome), and I'll see you all soon for Chapter 4! **

**Spoiler alert, old enemies are revisited :) **

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	4. The Lake

**Well, guess who just updated twice in one day? That's a new record! I also believe I've bested my old score and created an even longer chapter! Two new records! That's a new record, too, breaking two records in one day. That brings it to three records! Then-**

**Ahem, I got a little ahead of myself there. **

**Anyway, I was able to fit in one more chapter before my brief hiatus. Enjoy!**

* * *

Percy's POV

Percy's mind switched into overdrive as he latched on to Annabeth's arm and frantically pulled her body down the ever-growing mound. He guessed he had about 3 seconds before the new geyser erupted.

_2 seconds left_…Percy was almost at the bottom.

_1 second_…Tripping over a rock, he and Annabeth rolled down the rest of the rising, vibrating hill.

_Boom!_

This time, Annabeth snapped awake, her grey eyes flying open at the sound of the geyser and the wave of heat.

"Holy Poseidon, Annabeth!" Percy groaned as he sat up, covering his ears in a small attempt to block out the roar of the lava. "What does it take to wake you UP?"

"Wha-What's going on?" Annabeth gasped, watching the lava exploding upwards all around her in 3 separate places and trying her best to hurriedly scoot away from all of them.

"We're caught in some sort of geyser minefield!" Percy explained, shakily standing up and pulling Annabeth to her feet. His burnt back was killing him, feeling as if it were still aflame. Percy even looked over his shoulder to check if it actually was still on fire, but was slightly relieved to see no flames. What he _did_ see was no back to his shirt- which had probably turned to ashes and fallen off- and horribly blistered and scarred skin.

Percy sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the agony that was coursing through his veins. The lava must've have gotten him. Annabeth noticed this and turned him around so that she could see his back.

Gasping, her hand flew to her mouth. "Gods, Percy…"

Lucky for her, she was only red on her face and arms, like she had a bad sunburn, for the front blast she'd slept through hadn't been too bad, and Percy had blocked the brunt of the eruption from the back.

"That's it, I'm not leaving you on watch ever again," Annabeth said illogically.

"You can't…never sleep, you know," Percy moaned, struggling to stay standing.

Yet again, the dirt floor below them began to shake.

Percy's eyes widen in horror and screamed, "_RUN!"_ He grabbed Annabeth's wrist and yanked her away, running in between two previously exploded geysers, and off into the darkness. He'd dropped Riptide back near the lava geysers, but he knew it'd eventually return to his pocket.

"How…How long was I out? Have those geysers been going off the whole time?" Annabeth interrogated Percy as they ran at top speed away from the lava.

"You were out…for 7 minutes?" Percy estimated, his feet slamming against the dirt in his hurry to get away. "Those geysers…were only exploding around us…for a minute or two…" he panted.

Suddenly, Percy thought of something. Usually it was Annabeth thinking these kinds of questions, but for once it was Percy's turn. If those geysers had been sending lava upwards, it was sure to come down, right? So why had it not been pooling around them when they had been surrounded?

While he still had a chance, Percy looked behind him and Annabeth to really _watch_ the geysers. A fresh one exploded that was the fairly close, though not enough so to be any threat, and Percy watched as the lava flew into the sky. At the top, it lit up a dark, flat surface- the ceiling. Amazingly, it began to harden in mid-air. Starting at the top, the lava solidified into a dark obsidian all the way down to its core, freezing the geyser in its eruption. What was left was a tall, abstract pillar connecting the floor to the ceiling.

Percy began to notice that there were many of those pillars in the stretch of land behind him. Percy had thought that Tartarus didn't have a ceiling- at least, not one for miles up- but apparently in this area of Tartarus the ceiling dipped low to the ground. The pillars actually looked like they were supporting it, like in an actual building.

Percy shuddered as it reminded him of the time he'd acted as a pillar for the sky when he'd taken on Atlas' curse.

It seemed that Tartarus was self-generating its support. _Weird,_ Percy thought. _Lava can't freeze that quickly, can it?_ It was indeed cold down there, but not enough so to immediately harden scolding-hot lava. Again, this was Tartarus, and everything there was weird. Therefore, logic was useless.

Eventually, the geysers/pillars faded into the distance, and Tartarus' ceiling seemed to slope back up. Annabeth and Percy slowed to a stop, panting heavily, and knelt down to the ground to rest.

"That was…horrifyingly close," Annabeth commented, happy to be off her ankle.

"No kidding," Percy responded. Now that the adrenaline of the situation was beginning to wear off, the burns on his back hit him full force again, and he felt his eyes water.

He was kind of glad there was no light anymore, that way Annabeth couldn't see him cry. It'd make him look weak.

Percy had no way to ease the pain. No water or ice to soothe the fire, no ambrosia to heal his back- or his arm, for that matter.

They'd been in Tartarus for less than a day, and already Percy wanted to give up.

Annabeth, always the practical one and having forgotten about Percy's injury, asked, "Are we near the lake?"

Percy closed his eyes and sent out his senses, searching the air for water. Maybe it could help heal his back…

"That way," Percy pointed, then realizing Annabeth couldn't see his hand, restated, "To our right."

Annabeth stood, not without difficulty, and this time offered her hand to help Percy up. He took it, shaking as he stood, and took a deep breath. If the water could heal him, he'd be free of this pain soon.

The couple held hands and continued their journey to the lake.

It wasn't two minutes later when something glimmered up ahead.

"Is that…" Annabeth began, then was cut off when Percy answered, "It is."

The lake! Oh, sweet salvation, he could be rid of his pain. And maybe Annabeth's ankle could be healed, too. Percy'd never tried it before, but why wouldn't he be able to use his healing powers on Annabeth?

Renewed with adrenaline, the couple sprinted off towards the shimmering surface of the lake. As they came closer, they realized that the lake seemed to emit its own light, probably to make itself known so that monsters could drink and such.

Speaking of monsters…

"Hey Annabeth," Percy started as they neared the lake.

"Yeah?"

"Why are there so little monsters around? I mean, we heard them earlier, and then there was Arachne, but other than that no one's attacked us."

This stopped Annabeth in her tracks, just a few feet from the lake's shining surface. Percy came to a halt as well, though he severely wanted to leap into the water. She held a hand up to her chin and stared intensely at the ground. Annabeth loved a good puzzle, even if it was about something as troubling as this.

Smiling, the demigod snapped her fingers. "Remember how Gaea had opened the Doors of Death? Maybe so many monsters took that opportunity to leave that very few are left here!" Satisfied with her answer, she looked at Percy for a reply.

Before he could answer, a chuckle was heard in the wind, followed by a voice that caused both of their hearts to skip a beat.

"Many have left, but not all."

* * *

Percy and Annabeth whipped around, looking in the direction they'd just run from. Coming into the faint light of the lake, a pretty woman stepped towards them.

She wore all black, which helped her to blend into her environment. Percy had been about to look at her face to see if he could recognize her when telltale hissing made its way to his ears and stopped him dead. Well, actually, it stopped him from _being_ dead. If his gaze had continued upward, he would've looked straight into the beautiful but deadly eyes of Medusa.

"Medusa," Annabeth spat, immediately shifting her gaze to the ground. Percy did the same.

"Long time no see, daughter of Athena," Medusa mocked with a fake cheeriness.

"Yeah, the last time we met was when I cut off your head, I believe?" Percy said to the ground.

"Ah yes, son of Poseidon. Quite uncomfortable, that was." Her snakes hissed on the 's.' "Luckily, my head has grown back, so now I have the wonderful chance to see those entrancing green eyes they say you have."

Percy saw the feet of Medusa in his peripheral vision, signaling she'd approached him. Percy took a step back, but Medusa continued towards him.

"Stop where you are!" Annabeth demanded, thrusting her knife out blindly.

"Oh please, girl, I just want to look," she hissed. Percy had to shut his eyes tight as Medusa's cold hand was placed on his chin, lifting his head upwards.

"Aw, I just want…to…see," she coaxed. Percy reached for his sword, but with a shock of terror he realized that it had not yet been transported back to his pocket. He was unarmed, and he would die if he opened his eyes. Not ideal.

Annabeth yelled and ran forward, keeping her head down and knife forward. With a mischevious giggle, Medusa simply stepped to the side, keeping her hand on Percy's chin and giving Annabeth a straight shot at his stomach.

Using the reflection on her dagger, Annabeth noticed this change in position and skidded to a stop, slipping on the dirt floor and landing with a thump.

"What a shame. I almost got to watch you kill your own boyfriend," Medusa tsked in disappointment.

Percy took a large step back from his enemy, his eyes still squeezed shut, and smacked her hand away.

"Poor child. Curiousity always kills the cat, and it might just do the same to the demigod. Open your eyes, Percy."

"Fat chance," Percy snorted, feeling his pocket and whipping out the recently reappeared sword. Medusa gasped and backed up, remembering the sharp touch of that blade, and tripped over the still-seated Annabeth. With a yelp, the gorgon collapsed onto the ground.

"Maybe you should stay down more often," Percy joked to his girlfriend. "That's two trippings in one day." Annabeth would've rolled her eyes if they hadn't been shut.

"So Medusa," Percy said, opening his eyes and staring at the ground. "If you can't get people to look at you, you're really no threat at all, are you?"

"Ah, but you see, I've learned from my many ecounters in life," she said smoothly. Quick as a whip, she snatched a dagger of her own from the folds of her gown and thrust it underneath Annabeth's chin.

The demigod shut her eyes and gulped, feeling Medusa's hand wrap around her back to keep her from running away- or, in this case, scooting away.

"Surrender, Percy, or your girlfriend dies. I get so lonely down here, and I'd love to have some new statues to keep me company."

"Percy, don't!" Annabeth called out as Medusa pushed the knife closer to Annabeth's neck.

Percy, his eyes shut once again and not actually having seen Medusa and Annabeth, didn't know exactly what Medusa was doing, but he knew any rash movements would be bad, as well as dangerous to Annabeth.

After a moment of thought, Percy lowered his sword, then, much to Annabeth's surprise, dropped it. "Alright, Medusa, you win. Come over here so I can open my eyes for you."

"Perfect," Medusa grinned evilly, thought not letting go of Annabeth. She brought herself and her prisoner over to a vulnerable Percy.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth asked anxiously.

"What's right," was all he answered with, eyes still closed.

"See? In the many years we've been apart, the boy's gained a brain," Medusa chuckled.

"Or lost one," Annabeth accused, hinting to Percy he was making the wrong choice.

"I think Medusa's right," Percy smirked. "I have got a brain now. And one of the things I know for certain? Never be at a disadvantage in a fight."

Percy thrust his right arm out towards the lake, then flicked his hand back towards Medusa. The lake responded to his will and surged out of its banks, flying straight at the monster.

"Argh!" Medusa gurgled as the water splashed all around her and wrapped her up. Bending around Annabeth as to not drag her in as well, it retracted back into its normal position, dragging Medusa into its depths.

Riskily, Percy opened his eyes and sauntered over to the lake, his newfound ally in Tartarus. His mind sensed where Medusa was under the water, and he threw his sword at the spot. It sunk below the surface and swam straight into the heart of Medusa. A burst of air bubbles flew upwards, popping on the surface. All that was left of Medusa was a pile of dust that had floated to the top.

Using his foot, Percy splashed away her remains, preventing her reformation.

"It's okay now, Annabeth," Percy replied happily. "Open your eyes." She did so, and seeing Percy's expression, she knew that Medusa had been defeated.

"Even though I saw almost none of it, I assume it was awesome," Annabeth smiled.

"It was," Percy replied. He turned to look at the lake, exposing his seared back to Annabeth, and she gasped for the second time at it. She'd completely forgotten!

"_Percy!_" she exclaimed, and he turned to look at her, eyes wide. "Your back!"

Wincing, Percy was reminded of the pain as it flowed back into his body. He'd been so distracted with Medusa that it had faded into the back of his mind. Now, for the third time, it felt like it caught fire and burned badly.

"Get in the water, now!" Annabeth demanded, knowing it would heal him. Faster than he could do it himself, Annabeth shoved him into the water, where he splashed face first into the glowing liquid.

Flipping over and floating on his back, he sighed, and it became obvious that it was working. Percy's back cooled down immensely, and the bone in his arm was relieved of pain and felt as if it was mending itself back together.

Through all the relief, however, Percy noticed something odd. Behind the cooling sensation was a hidden layer of…something. It felt as if an illness was seeping into his body along with the healing. _That makes no sense,_ Percy thought. _This water is healing me, not making me sick._

Even so, he felt something enter his body, something that felt like it was draining his energy and freezing his insides.

"Um, Percy?" Annabeth asked. She noticed that Percy's eyes looked spaced-out, he was shivering, and his face had gotten a slight green tint, like he was going to be sick.

"I think it's time to get out now," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's arm and pulling him out of the water. He didn't react, nor did his eyes refocus. It was beginning to scare Annabeth.

"Percy?" she squeaked. "Percy, what's wrong?"

"Con…Contaminated…water?" was all he could get out. Annabeth delicately laid him on the ground, then crawled over to the edge of the lake. Dipping her finger in, she pulled it back out and dipped it in her mouth, tasting it.

Immediately, she began to gag. That water was _not_ normal. Then again, nothing here was.

Percy saw her look back at him, a worried expression plastered on her face. Whatever had been in that water was not good, and even though his arm and back had completely healed, his body was still sick.

"Call…Nico…" Percy coughed, pointing to the lake. Understanding dawned in Annabeth's eyes and she began splashing water up in an arch.

She fished a lone drachma out of pocket and whispered, "This better work…" before speaking the incantation to call on Iris.

* * *

**Oh no, what's wrong with Percy? Sadly, you must wait until Chapter 5 for that answer.**

**Please leave a review!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	5. The Truth Comes Out

**I'm back! I hope you all like this chapter- it get's pretty emotional near the end ;) . By the way, I recently began my second FanFic known as Ordoa's Arena, so hop on over there after you finish reading this chapter and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

* * *

Annabeth's POV

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," Annabeth recited. "Show me Nico Di Angelo on the Argo II."

Using one hand, Annabeth was splashing the lake's glowing waters in an arch, creating a very faint rainbow that would hopefully be enough for the message, and with the other she flipped a drachma through the spray. Upon contact, the coin dissolved.

An image began to form on the mist, fuzzy at first, but rapidly gaining clarity. The colors came together to show a familiar mop of black hair laying on a pillow, sheets pulled up to the chin of the son of Hades.

_He's asleep,_ Annabeth thought, feeling a bit of sympathy at having to wake him up. However, the feeling evaporated quickly and was overcome by her desperation.

"_Nico!"_ Annabeth shouted urgently.

"Ah!" Nico shot straight up, looking around frantically. "Wha-What…Annabeth?" Nico's eyes were wide, as if he couldn't believe she'd just seen him in bed.

Annabeth couldn't help but blush. "Sorry, Nico, but we need your help. Badly." Annabeth, still splashing the water, reached behind her and dragged Percy forward. He was shaking, his eyes still unfocused, and he looked scared, an expression not often seen on his face.

"Holy Hera, what happened to him?"

"He tried healing in this one lake down here, the one I'm actually using for our Iris message right now. It did heal his wounds, like usual, but…I don't know, he got sick from it or something. Do you know anything about a lake in Tartarus, or maybe why he's like this?"

Nico swallowed nervously. "I…I do, but you're not going to like it."

"That lake is the Lake of Life. It's name is deceptive, though, because it in fact does not give life but instead _steals_ it. It was put in Tartarus as a sort of torture to monsters; if they drank, they died a…a slow death. For monsters, it wasn't too big a deal. They'd trample around Tartarus, die, then reappear somewhere else in the pit."

"Wait," Annabeth interjected. "The monsters never truly die down here, then?" The daughter of Athena could see the logic in this. If a monster is killed, where do they go? Tartarus. It'd be the same occurrence even if you were already there.

"I guess so," Nico shrugged. "The Lake basically prolongs their stay in Tartarus before they can return to the upper world to reek havoc again."

"So…" Annabeth turned to look at the sick son of Poseidon. He'd closed his eyes and seemed to be struggling to remain conscious. "What…what'll happen to Percy?"

Nico didn't want to answer that question. He stayed silent, staring at his friend with sorrow-filled eyes, before mumbling, "If he isn't given ambrosia or isn't purified in clean water, he'll…he'll die."

Annabeth couldn't help herself. She let out a strangled gasp, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"No, this can't be happening," she cried, dragging Percy closer and, using her free arm, pulled him into a firm hug. "He can't die…"

"Annabeth." Nico's voice had suddenly gotten stronger, a steady determination filling every word. "He won't die. We won't let him. Go to the Doors as fast as you possibly can, and we'll bring water and ambrosia to heal him. Please…please hurry." With that, Nico raised his arm sleepily to wave it through the message, but Annabeth demanded, "Stop."

Nico did.

"If the Lake drains a person's life, why did it heal Percy's wounds?"

Nico thought a second before answering, "It's still water. Water heals Percy. The 'life draining' part just sucks away their energy and health, so the water part of the Lake was still able to heal his wounds."

"One last question- where are the Doors of Death? Did you ever find them?"

Nico shivered at the thought of his experience in Tartarus. "N-No, I never made it." Seeing Annabeth's deeply worried expression, he hurried to say, "I did, however, learn their location."

Perking up a bit, Annabeth asked, "Where are they?"

"Surprisingly, you guys aren't too far away right now. Just keep walking to the north of the Lake of Life. I don't know exactly how close you are, but you should reach them that way."

"Thank you, Nico," Annabeth said with sad eyes but a genuine smile.

"Good…Good luck, Annabeth." After they'd said their goodbyes, Annabeth stopped splashing the Lake's water in the air, causing the image to fade into nothing on the remaining mist.

Shaking her fatigued hand and wiping it on her jeans, Annabeth knelt down next to the son of Poseidon.

"Percy…" she whispered, checking to see if he was awake; he'd been pretty still during the whole Iris message, and Annabeth figured he'd fallen asleep. At least, she hoped that was the case…

"Huh?" Percy murmured, barely opening his sea-green eyes.

A single tear slipped out of Annabeth's eye at the sight of Percy like this. He was so weak, so vulnerable, so...not in control. Annabeth needed his leader-like strength to keep her from losing her mind, and now _she_ was being forced to be the leader.

"C'mon, we need…we need to find you water. Clean water. Nico said they'd have some ready at the Doors, so we need to get there as fast as we can." She bent down and wrapped Percy's arm around her shoulders. Hefting him up, he got to his feet, though he was heavily leaning on her.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Am I going to die?"

Annabeth stared at Percy, taken aback by his question. It was obvious that he knew the truth. He was dying, and there was a good chance he wouldn't make it out of Tartarus alive. His shoulders were slumped forward, eyes droopy, and his knees were shaking as the sickness coursed its way through his body.

Hardening her resolve, Annabeth replied, "No, you're not. We are going to get you out of here _alive_."

Percy gave her his signature smile, then responded with a simple, "I knew you'd say that, Wise Girl."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she retorted, rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless.

And together the couple walked away from the Lake, continuing their journey to the Doors of Death…and their freedom.

* * *

Nico's POV

Nico had fallen back asleep after his talk with Annabeth, and when he woke up the next morning the sun was shining brightly through his window. Stretching his arms as he sat up, Nico rubbed his eyes and got ready for the day.

He sleepily joined everyone in the mess hall below decks, where they were all enjoying breakfast.

Well, _enjoying_ is a bit of an exaggeration. Piper, Jason, Leo, Frank, and Hazel were all silently eating their food, each either staring at their plate or off into space. It'd been like this the all the time after Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. It seemed like they had taken all the happiness in the world with them.

Nico slid into the seat next to Hazel, not bothering to grab any breakfast. He had too big of news to share.

"Percy and Annabeth Iris-messaged me last night." Piper dropped her fork at the sudden news, letting it clang loudly on the table. Frank choked on a piece of waffle, and Jason stared at the son of Hades, dumbfounded.

"They _what?_ How- what did- why didn't you tell any of us last night?" Hazel stammered.

"You were all asleep; We all know we need the rest."

Everyone grew silent since they knew it was true. Nobody wanted to sleep; all they wanted to do was find their friends. However, they'd be no help if they were all sleep-deprived zombies.

Clearing his throat, Nico explained their whole conversation, going from the Lake of Life to finding the Doors.

"Since Percy had taken in the water in order to heal himself, he…he acquired the Lake's curse, and he's…he's _dying_." Nico's voice caught as he finished up his explanation.

Hazel began to cry, turning to sob onto Frank's shoulder. The son of Mars himself looked on the verge of tears. Everyone else's jaws had dropped. The mighty son of Poseidon, part-time praetor of Rome and famous demigod all around, was dying. In _T__artarus. _It couldn't get much worse than that.

Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, Leo stood up and left the table, not saying a word. He quickly left to go upstairs, and the last thing Nico noticed before he disappeared was his hand wiping at his eyes.

"Where's he going?" Nico asked to no one in particular.

"I don't know, but we should check on him," Piper said, concern laced into her voice.

Frank bit his lip, then said, "Doesn't he like to be left alone, you know, when he's upset?" Hazel grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"We're going to check on him," she responded with a glare.

Together, the five demigods left the mess hall and went searching for their friend.

It was easy to find him. Leo was in the engine room, hammering away at a new weapon he'd been working on using the Archimedes' sphere. He looked frustrated, like he always did when he was struggling with an invention, but this time it was covering a layer of sorrow and…was that guilt?

The group of demigods approached the son of Hepheastus, and it was Piper who spoke first.

"Leo, please tell us what's wrong. We're all understandably upset, but I know that there's more to your sadness than you're letting on."

Leo paused, then set down his hammer and rested his elbows on the work bench.

"You want to know what's wrong? I'm a big screw-up, that's what," Leo snapped. He let his head drop into his hands, getting engine grease all over his forehead.

"What are you talking about, Leo?" Jason asked confusedly, truly concerned for his friend.

When Leo looked up again, his dirty face was streaked with tear tracks. "When Frank, Hazel, and I went on our individual quest in Rome and got trapped with the eidolons, I used a deal I'd made earlier with Nemesis. She'd given me a fortune cookie that would help me with something when I most needed it, though the help would come with a price. Well, the eidolons were hurting Hazel and Frank, and they might've died, so I broke the cookie and got help with the Archimedes Sphere in order to save them. I figured the price would be an eye or a limb, but _nooo_, Nemesis made it cost me Percy and Annabeth's lives!"

Leo was shouting by now, his guilt becoming overwhelming. "It's my fault they're down there! It's my fault that they have to go through that! _It's my fault that Percy's dying!"_

Leo finished his rant and dropped his head back into his hands, and began to full-on cry, sobs racking his body. Hazel walked over to him and tried to give him a comforting hug, but Leo just shrugged it off.

"It's not you're fault," Jason said, putting a hand on the crying demigod's shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for that."

"But it is my fault!" Leo yelled, looking up at the Roman. "Everything is my fault! I fired on New Rome, I couldn't fix Festus, I…I practically killed Percy and Annabeth!" In a whisper, Leo muttured, "It's okay if you all hate me now; I would."

"Leo!" Piper exclaimed, having heard Leo's mumbled comment. She felt forced to use her charmspeaking skills in order to calm down her friend, or else he'd never stop feeling guilty. Leo's cries quieted, but his tears continued to run down his face.

"Listen to me: stop blaming yourself. You saved Hazel and Frank; you built the Argo II! You _have_ done great things in your life, and you just need to realize them! You are no screw-up, you're our friend, and we wouldn't hate you even if you freed Gaea yourself!"

Leo looked into her kaleidascope eyes, trying to see if she meant it. "Really?" he sniffed. He hated looking weak in front of everyone, but everything he'd said was the truth, and if he hadn't shared it with anyone, he would've exploded with guilt.

"Really." Piper came in for a hug, which Leo didn't try to get out of. He instead accepted it and hugged Piper back. Soon, it turned into a giant group hug, and even Frank joined in, though obviously reluctant to do so.

"C'mon," Leo sniffed, looking around at all his friends. "Let's go rescue Percy and Annabeth before it's too late."

* * *

**So, what'd you think? I went back and took a quick look at life back on the Argo II, and it turned into Leo's confession. I personally liked that bit; I think it'll pull the demigods closer as a 'family.' Also, if you were wondering, Annabeth didn't get sick by touching the Lake because her body didn't take in any water. Monsters drink it, bringing it into their body, and Percy's body had been absorbing it to heal him. It actually needs to get into the system to take affect. Touching it does nothing.**

**I have a quick question for all you readers: Would you like Percy and Annabeth to find the Doors of Death soon or have them fight more monsters in Tartarus? I have plans for when they reach the Doors, and I'm eager to write that part, but I don't want to rush the story along. Please leave your opinion in the comments!**

**Thank you to nicholsndimes08 for the Favorite, thanks to Hibye for the AWESOME review ;), and thank you to ElementalEvolution for the follow AND review! Don't worry, I'll continue to update as fast as I can! Also, thank you to Jamieandtj for following me!**

**See you all soon,**

**-8DemigodRunner8**

**(PS) Any Lazel shippers out there? I am one :) . I do understand that's a little weird to have them like each other, but I just love them together! My only problem is that I don't want Frank to be alone and would feel bad for him if he lost Hazel to Leo. Ugh, darn Uncle Rick's love triangles.**


	6. Cheriskia

**Hi, it's 8DemigodRunner8 again! I am truthfully _so_ sorry for the delay on this posting; I've gotten to be very busy and just haven't been writing as frequently as I'd like. I hate making you all wait, but now I've finally got the next chapter up! Good news: the next chapter should hopefully be up in a day or two. Bad news: My updates are, unfortunatly, going to be more spaced out than I'd originally planned them to be. However, I've made you all wait long enough. Time for the new chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I haven't nor will I ever own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus, sadly. All rights go to Rick Riordan.**

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Percy's POV

Percy absolutely hated feeling useless. He despised being sick. Most of all, he couldn't _stand_ not being able to protect his friends and family. As you can imagine, he was having a pretty sucktastic time in Tartarus.

After he'd taken a swim in the Lake of Life, Percy had been feeling horrible twenty-four seven. His own legs could barely support him, his eyes struggled to remain open, and he had absolutely no energy.

After Annabeth had Iris messaged Nico, the two demigods had begun their trek back into the cold, unforgiving darkness that encircled the Lake of Life and infinitely extended beyond. It wasn't long before the eerie light of the Lake was swallowed by the immense blackness that swept through Tartarus, and the only light to aid them on their way was the faint shimmer of Percy's magic blade- Riptide.

As Percy leaned on Annabeth and tried to remain awake, he asked, "How…How do we know… if w-we are even…going north?" Percy struggled to say, finishing with a loud yawn.

Annabeth hesitated, slowing her pace and becoming very quiet. Percy knew what she was going to say before a sound escaped her lips. "Truthfully…I don't know. Just a hunch?"

Percy was familiar enough with Annabeth to know she _hated_ not knowing something. Being a child of Athena, this was completely normal, and being as lost as she was right now must have been agonizing for her.

"You're…probably right anyways," Percy comforted his girlfriend with a sleepily tilted smile.

At his compliment, Annabeth drew him closer to her side. "Thanks, Percy."

And so the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena continued walking in the direction of what they hoped was the Doors of Death. Percy, although he trusted Annabeth with his life, was indeed worried that they might not be heading north after all. They were fresh out of compasses, and down in Tartarus there was no North Star to lead them. It was a pure gamble, really.

At one point the ground dipped down, causing Annabeth to stumble as she tried to keep Percy upright.

Helping her back up, he mumbled, "Lemme…Let me walk on my own now for a bit, 'k? I can tell you're tired."

Even in the barely-there glow of Riptide, Percy could see her about to protest. Not giving her a chance to deny his request, the ill demigod hesitantly let go of her shoulders and put all his weight back onto his own feet.

_Okay_,_ I'm standing on my own. __That's…that's_ good, Percy encouraged himself._ Now just- _He tried to take a step forward, wobbled a bit, and on his second step he fell to his unsteady knees with a grunt of unsuccessful effort.

Annabeth hurried to Percy's side, lightly pulling his weak arm up onto her shoulders and wrapping her own arm around his waist. She hefted Percy to his feet once again- she was stronger than most people gave her credit for- and Percy caught a glimpse of her concerned expression for him.

"Annabeth, don't worry. I'm fine, really."

He could see her eyes wetting with unshed tears. "No, Percy," she whispered. Then, her voice getting louder, "You're _n-not_ alright, okay? I know that. _You_ know that. So stop pretending to be fine. We will make it out of here, heal you, then you can say you're fine."

Percy gave her a half-hearted smile, trying his best to lighten the mood. "Hey, didn't you say so yourself to…to not be pessa…pessi-"

"Pessimists, yeah," Annabeth corrected her boyfriend with a sigh. "No matter what trouble you end up getting into, you still manage to be a Seaweed Brain."

"The one and only," the son of Poseidon stated with mock pride and put his fist over his heart. That made Annabeth laugh, a precious sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Smiling with delight, Percy laughed along with her. They laughed longer than that joke deserved, but it felt so good to be _happy_ for a change that they were filled with a content joy that just brought on more waves of rolling laughter.

It may've been five minutes before the couple finally calmed down and were able to get back to reality. Percy's sides hurt from laughing, and his face ached from smiling so hard. Annabeth wiped her tears of joy from under her eyes and let out one last chuckle before straightening up and rewrapping her arms around Percy.

"I love you, Percy Jackson," she said, still grinning like a young girl on her birthday.

"I love you, Annabeth Chase," he replied, hugging her a bit harder and breathing in her sweet presence as if it was the last time he would ever do so. Judging from the circumstances, it could be…

It was then that Percy noticed something as he hugged his best friend, something simultaneously reassuring and anxiety inducing.

It was quiet. Like, completely silent. Not the quiet of a library or the quiet of a night in the open country. This…this was the silence before a storm. Suffocating, thick, and steadily increasing in tension.

He guessed Annabeth had felt him tense up, because she immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you hear it?" Percy whispered, not wanting to break the almost tangible silence.

"What? I don't hear…anything," Annabeth whispered back, realization dawning on her. "We need to get moving. A stillness like that just…just can't be good."

Percy nodded, not sure though if she even saw it or not in the darkness, and began to lean on her again. They set off at a quick pace, trying to outrun a nonexistent pursuer.

Percy hadn't told Annabeth yet, but he could feel the poisoned water tracing its way slowly throughout his body. His legs felt like lead, explaining the reason why he'd been barely able to walk and was basically relying on Annabeth for any movement at all. The demigod's arms were sluggish and heavy, leaving him doubtful that he'd even be able to defend himself in a fight; truthfully, he was just relieved that the water hadn't made its way to his heart and brain yet. Once it got there…well, Percy didn't want to think about it. He hadn't told her about the poison's progress because he knew she'd only get more stressed out than she already was, and he needed her to focus on the task at hand rather than fret about his present state of sickness.

Percy admittedly didn't like relying on others. He always felt like a burden, as if he was a thorn in their side that they just had to put up with until they could get rid of him. Now he wasn't even just a bothersome load to protect; Percy had to practically be _carried around_. The son of Poseidon felt guilty for forcing Annabeth to drag his sorry butt across Tartarus with no help from him whatsoever. He'd obviously try to protect her when the time presented itself, which he was sure it would, but really...what help would he be now? Percy sighed inwardly; there was nothing he could do about it but try to keep up with Annabeth as they continued to quickly walk farther through Tartarus.

That's when he heard it- a horrific sound piercing the idle quiet that resembled the wail of a dying soul. Annabeth and Percy both instinctively whipped around, searching for the source of the terrifying shout. Not surprisingly, they saw nothing in the unending blackness that surrounded them.

They didn't need to say a single word to each other on what to do; immediately Annabeth snatched out her dagger while Percy clicked Riptide into existence.

"Keep going," Percy muttered, trying to keep his voice at a quiet tone. "We can't let…whatever it is…get us." The two half-bloods started to sprint, but soon Percy realized he couldn't keep up with that speed- much to his frustration- and instead they jogged. The wind picked up drastically as they ran, clawing at their clothes and harassing their hair. They weren't actually going all that fast, so why the wind was suddenly this fierce was really unnatural. It was, of course, blasting them _towards _the creature that had emitted the wail rather than the direction they wanted to go- _away_. Ever since the first screech, the being's noises had softened into moans and whimpers, sounding as if there were many monsters' voices now. Definitely not good.

"We…can go…a-a little faster than this…if you want," I slurred as we continued to jog, mysteriously losing speed.

"I'm actually trying go as fast as I can!" Annabeth exclaimed, confusion evident in her voice. Percy could see her heels digging into the ground as she tried to pick up speed, and he then noticed that they were physically leaning forward in haste of getting away.

"We should…We should be going faster than this…what with all the effort we're putting…in," Percy observed, really pushing to go faster. However, it was like moving through molasses, and they were making almost no progress anymore.

Then Percy saw the first shadow. In the heat of the moment he'd casually glanced down and saw a tendril of darkness slither out from behind him, smoothly wrapping itself around his wrist.

"Ah!" Percy yelped, yanking his hand away. "Annabeth-"

"What the-" he heard Annabeth say as her leg shot upwards, shaking her ankle as if warding off another shadow tendril that had tried to grab her. "What are these things?"

The moans and screams that had been trailing behind them had steadily grown louder, and now it felt as though whatever-it-was was right behind them. As always, Percy saw nothing in the darkness behind them, but he just _knew_ something was there. Call it a demigod instinct.

"Hello?" Percy called out to no one. "Just…show your- your-" He let out a yawn before finishing his sentence, "-yourself."

"Percy!" Annabeth gasped, pointing at the hem of his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He looked behind himself to see another tendril of shadow take the shape of a sharp hook and cling to my shirt, tugging me backwards like a tow truck would a stalled car.

"Get off!" Percy yelled at it, not knowing if it understood him or even had a brain, and he tried to pull out his celestial bronze sword. Much to Percy's horror, his arms were barely responding to his will. _Now_ _I can't even draw my sword_? Percy thought, panicking. "This is bad, this is bad." Annabeth got the message on what was occuring with Percy and used her own dagger to slice off his shirt's hem, sending the shadow flying backwards due to it's own inertia.

"Your arms are already growing numb?" Annabeth questioned her boyfriend, not bothering to hide the anxiety in her voice.

"And my legs." Percy figured he might as well stop trying to hide it. The Lake's water was making a major impact on him- fast.

As they continued to walk, shadow spears didn't stop clinging to their shirts, pants, arms, and even their hair.

Annabeth sucked in a breath as one caught a handful of her blonde, curly ponytail and yanked back violently. The daughter of Athena sliced the darkness away with her trusty dagger, creating another horrible wail in the distance.

"What is with this thing?" Annabeth spat, shaking off a tendril on her upper arm as Percy tried to lift his foot and stomp on a shadow.

"Thing? I'd hardly like to be called a _thing._"

Percy and Annabeth stopped dead in their tracks, frozen with dread. The shadowy monster that had been following them had finally spoken, it's voice wavering as if it was trying to mask a cacophony of screams and shouts. Even so, faint yells and shrieks were flying through the air, using the darkness as their transportation.

"Who…are you, then?" Percy demanded, looking around for the speaker.

"My _shadowy hands_ didn't give you a clue? And I thought _monsters_ were known as the dumb ones. I am Cheriskia, the monster of shadows and all-around a man to be feared by all."

Under her breath, Annabeth muttered to Percy, "Cheriskia. That's 'shadow hands' in Greek."

"Wow, way to get creative on the names," he said sarcastically back.

"Hey, I don't name the monsters," Annabeth retorted.

Suddenly, a giant shadow that was shaped like an abnormally large hand crept in between the two and subtly wrapped its way around Annabeth's waist.

She gasped at its cold touch and screamed as it lifted her up into the air, pulling her backwards.

"Annabeth!" Percy called out in vain. It wasn't much longer before the second hand yanked him back as well. He was carried high up into the black sky; somewhere below he'd dropped Riptide, leaving him with no light.

That's when he saw the face. The half-formed head of monster of shadows materialized in front of me- the face of Cheriskia. While his hands happened to be large enough to extend from my shoulders to my knees, his head and body remained an average adult size, emitting a dark glow that enabled Percy to be able to see him in the first place. His entire form was black and writhing with shadows and screaming faces; it reminded Percy of Hades' toga and cloak filled with trapped souls. Even with his spooky shine, Cheriskia's face was barely discernable among the darkness surrounding him. Percy could barely see his dark nose, cruelly twisted grin, and deep eyes that resembled black holes.

He had no hair, and…he had no back of his head. Nor a back of his body. Where his ear should've been his skin dissolved into the air, leaving him looking like a half-finished mold of a Greek statue. His torso adorned a black toga that also dissolved into the air at his knees. Cheriskia's arms were also shadow like, but they grew in size from his shoulder to his large, clasping and clawed hands. The noises of despair that had been filling the air for the past ten or twenty minutes finally ceased to exist, dissipating quickly as Cheriskia prepared to speak.

"Oh, the Earth goddess will be _s__so_ pleased at my catch," the monster mused, stringing out his s's like a snake would. Percy was surprised that his tongue didn't flicker each time he rolled his s's, so much did he sound like a snake. "The bounty on your heads iss enough to leave me living large for the resst of my life!" he exclaimed with a maniacal laugh. His pitch black eyes swept over the two demigods as a predator would his prey. "The famouss sson of Posseidon and his ssidekick daughter of Athena..."

"I'm _nobody_'s sidekick," Annabeth growled back at him.

"Oh, tessty today, aren't we?" Cheriskia grinned, bringing her closer to his dark, shadowy face. "Gaea didn't sspecifically assk for your return, you know. In fact, your bounty is jusst as good as the other girlsss…I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I killed you and brought her only the boy..."

"Let her go!" Percy yelled at the monster, trying to wriggle out of his tight grasp. Sadly, the half-blood's illness prevented him from doing much, and he basically hung there like a rag doll. Percy felt his face grow red with frustration at his incapabilities.

"Well, well, well, Percccy Jacksson," Cheriskia said, floating over to me and abandoning his conversation with Annabeth. At least she was safe for the time being. "In all truth, I thought you would've put up more of a fight than thisss. Thiss, well, iss pretty pathetic."

"Yeah, well…I'm not at my best right now," I grumbled angrily. Cheriskia pulled in even closer so that now I could smell his rancid breath that reeked with the scent of death. _I guess Nico isn't the one I should be calling 'Death Breath' anymore, _I thought to myself. The half-formed monster, presently gripping Percy to the point were he was struggling to even draw in a breath, was searching his sea-green eyes for something, though Percy didn't know what.

Cheriskia must've found what he'd been looking for, because next he smiled and looked at Annabeth curiously. "He swam in the Lake of Life, didn't he? Seriously, I'd expect a daughter of Athena to know better than to let him do that." Turning back to Percy, he scoffed, "Some girlfriend you've got there."

"How did…How did you know that she's my girlfriend?" Percy asked him, desperately trying to keep his thoughts from wandering and struggling to get even simple questions out. _Oh no_, he gasped inwardly. _It's reached my mind_. Ever since the swim, Percy's thoughts had been slow, but now…now he had trouble even remembering what I had been about to say. He was scared. Really scared.

Cheriskia's reply snapped Percy out of his troubled thoughts. "Word getss around, even in Tartaruss. Besides, every monster who'ss ever met you, apparently, knew you'd end up together. It was inevetible, really." He chuckled. "At leassst, that'ss what I've heard."

"So…what do you…want…with me?" the demigod stumbled out, his mind already forgetting both small details as well as important memories.

Cheriskia rolled his eyes. "You are the ideal sssacrifice for Gaea. She has offered an unimaginable amount of drachma for your capture and return. I plan to collect that reward for myself." Out of the corner of his eye, Percy noticed Annabeth moving around slowly in her hand prison, and once she made eye contact with Percy he knew what she was trying to do. She had a plan, and in order for it to work he had to keep Cheriskia talking and unfocused on his second prisoner.

"Why... Why don't you s…send Gaea both of us, instead o…of killing one of us? The kill wi...will only give you a small amount of...of satisfaction, while the money will la...last longer...You'll get both our rewards, rather…than just mine."

Cheriskia paused, drawing back a little in thought. "You bring up a good point, Percccy Jacksson. Perhaps I will-"

Suddenly, the monster let out an ear-piercing screech of pain, which was sounded straight in Percy's ear, and briskly dropped both Percy and Annabeth to the dirt floor below.

Luckily for them, they weren't as high up as they'd originally assumed, and the fall did nothing but squash the air out of Percy's and Annabeth's lungs. Gasping, Percy's shaking arms pushed him into a sitting position, from which he attempted to stand.

"C'mon, let's go!" Annabeth ushered him, running over and supporting her boyfriend once again. "I was able to stab his hand, but it sure wasn't a good enough hit to kill the beast."

A loud roar of outrage from their former captor confirmed her suspicions. "You sneaky little BRATS! I will turn you into Gaea, AND I WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET THAT REWARD!"

"Pretty strong words for a guy who whines for his mommy at a little pinprick!" Percy stupidly taunted the monster, only causing Cheriskia's rage to rise.

"Run!" Annabeth screamed as Cheriskia came out of his rampage, charging the two half-bloods.

"Where?" he asked her frantically, gesturing to the black expanse before them.

"Uh…there!" Annabeth pointed to a tiny smudge of orange light on the horizon, so faint that Percy hadn't even noticed it before.

"COME BACK HERE!"

"That's our cue!" Percy exclaimed, getting a sudden rush of adrenaline that gave his legs barely enough power to flee towards the unwavering light up ahead. Annabeth grabbed his hand and, with her added speed, they sprinted off towards what they could only hope was safety.

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**And scene. How was that? Cheriskia is my own OC, and when it came to his name, I looked up the Greek terms for shadow (skia with an accent on the "a") and hand (cheri with an accent on the "e") and combined them together. Cheriskia is probably not how you actually say "Shadow Hands," but it worked as a name.**

**First off, before I get to individual thank-you's, I'd like to say that I am so grateful for all of your patience in waiting for my chapters to come out! I'll try and publish them asap, but sometimes my schedule gets so busy that I can't write as much as I'd like to. Please continue to follow even if my chapters are published less frequently than they used to be, and my goal is to finish at least a chapter a week.**

**Thank you to geniveve-jason, xCaydieKane, alyaJackson, cjsmile5, and GAKUENALICEROCKS for the story favorites, thank you to godsarereal and GUAKENALICEROCKS for the author favorites, thank you to alyaJackson and GUAKENALICEROCKS for the story follows, and thanks to GUAKENALICEROCKS for the author follow! **

**GUAKENALICEROCKS: Thank you so much! I really appreciated the tip on having them fight some more monsters, and I'm so happy that you like the story! Again, sorry for the slow update. **

**Hibye: Thank you! And I do feel bad for not updating sooner, but here it finally is! I'm super glad that you like this story as much as you do and please continue to review and read!**

**As always, reviews, follows, and favorites are greatly appreciated! Thank you to those who already have!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	7. The Trio of Trouble

**Hello! Guess who's back with another chapter already? That's right- me! I'm excited that I got out two chapters in one weekend, so that set the bar pretty high for weekends to come. Speaking of weekends, it won't be until the next one before Chapter 7 comes out :( . Enough chit-chat. Let's get own with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Percy Jackson and the Olympians nor Heroes of Olympus.**

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Annabeth's POV

It was a good thing that Annabeth had already had lots of practice in running away from monsters; if she hadn't, she would've been dead faster than you can say "Cheriskia."

As Percy had distracted the big-handed monster, Annabeth had been able to squeeze her hand around her dagger's grip and lurch it to the side, shoving it deep into one of Cheriskia's dark, shadow-like fingers.

Now she and Percy were running towards the anonymous reddish-orange glow lining the distance as a man with shadows for hands screamed empty threats at them from behind, furiously chasing them down.

"I will rip your limbs off one by one!" the monster had screamed.

"Already experienced that feeling!" Annabeth called back at Cheriskia, reminiscing about her time at Crusty's Water Bed Palace.

"Then, I'll throw you into an exploding volcano!"

"Been there, done that!" was Percy's reply.

"Uh…I'll poison you and kill you slowly! A slow death!"

"Check!" both Percy and Annabeth responded in unison, Annabeth referencing the time she took Kronos' blade for Percy and Percy referring to his present situation.

They continued their sprint, the light ahead growing brighter, closer, and longer in length as they neared their destination.

"Um, I'll throw you both off a cliff!" Cheriskia threatened, desperately trying to find more ways to torture the two demigods in ways they _hadn't_ already experienced.

"Did that in Alaska!" Percy commented casually, while Annabeth added, "I did that while wrestling a manticore!"

"Yeah? Well, I fell off the St. Louis Arch!"

"I almost fell off of Olympus!"

"I fell down a pit into Tartarus!"

"So did I, Seaweed Brain!"

"Oh, right…"

Cheriskia had been silenced by the couple's bickering, stunned by all the dangerous events they'd already encountered in their lives.

It wasn't long before Annabeth was able to see what was creating the light that had been their guide. It was…a river. _Made of lava_. As Annabeth, Percy, and Cheriskia neared the end of their sprint, Annabeth could now see that up ahead Tartarus cut off into a sheer drop leading into a jagged ravine below. The rocks that jutted out from the ravine's floor looked brown and occasionally tan in the hot light emanating off the lava, shaped in odd formations and sharp points. The river must've started at the cliff's base and flowed off into the distance, washing the land around it in a deadly glow. _The river probably supplied the geysers earlier with_ lava, Annabeth thought, connecting the dots between the two sections in Tartarus.

Wait, back up. They were headed for a sheer drop? Annabeth watched as the dark edge came closer and closer to her and Percy. They were running straight for the cliff! Annabeth understandably didn't want to fall off anything anymore, and even if she wasn't afraid to do so, she'd end up burning in the river of lava or impaling herself on the sharp rocks below. The thought was so eminent in her mind that she subconsciously let go of Percy's arm and tried to slow herself down.

Suddenly, Percy let out a loud gasp as his legs just couldn't carry him any farther and he collapsed onto the hard-packed ground, a yard or two from the cliff's edge. _Oh my gods, _Annabeth fretted, rushing to his side. _The disease! How could I have been so stupid? Running like this…it must have been so hard!_

"Percy. Percy, speak to me! Are you alright?" Annabeth asked, brushing his dirty black hair out of his face.

"Just…tired," Percy mumbled, going limp in her arms.

"Oh my gods, Percy. Don't fall asleep, okay?" Annabeth said, shaking with panic. If he fell asleep and didn't wake up…

"Looks like….Looks like I've got you now!" Cheriskia panted, coming to a stop behind them. "_The reward is mine!"_

The monster of shadows had been lifting his unnaturally enlarged hands to snatch the two demigods up off the floor when the bottom of his toga, where his body met the air, began to turn gold. Not just a dull, yellow color that resembled gold. He was turning into _real_ gold, the precious metal flowing up his body, encasing his entire torso, neck, and eventually his surprised face in perfect detail. The golden transformation expanded out through Cheriskia's broad shoulders, traveling down to his elbows and then his hands, solidifying them in their outreached position. Soon, a perfect golden statue of the partially formed Cheriskia stood snarling in front of Annabeth and the collapsed Percy, its hands inches from their faces.

"Sorry," a new voice apologized, though it was evident in the person's voice that he or she could've cared less. "But that reward belongs to me." A small "ouch!" escaped the unidentified person as a second voice added, "Part of it goes to me, remember?" The second speaker had been female; Annabeth could tell by the pitch of her voice.

A man's voice angrily shouted, "It's a three-way split, you know. Don't leave me out!"

Emerging from behind the now-golden form of Cheriskia sauntered three people, each grinning evilly. The first man, the one who seemed to be the eldest of the three with his graying hair and wrinkled features, wore a bathrobe and bunny slippers. Astonishingly, that wasn't his most prudent feature. Sprouting from the sides of his head were two furry donkey ears. Not only that, but his fingers seemed to be glowing with a dim golden light, one that could only be visible in complete darkness, sparking an old memory of a myth telling of a man who wished everything he touched to turn to gold- King Midas.

The second person was the only woman, and she had her right hand hidden behind her back as if she was concealing something from Annabeth's sight. _Hopefully it's not a knife_, the demigod thought to herself. Something told her it wasn't one. The woman, if she'd been a bit younger, could've passed for a super model. She was slender and tall, and she had long dark hair that she kept drawn over her shoulder. The mystery woman had on a long, regal black gown and expensive-looking jewelry around her neck and hanging from her ears. Annabeth, despite her expansive knowledge of Greek Mythology, did not know who this lady was. Maybe she was from a Roman myth? Annabeth doubted it; she had that Greek look about her.

The third and final person in the trio was a bit displeasing to look at. He also adorned a bathrobe (what was with that, anyway? Was it the style for older men now?), though this man's robe was stained and severely worn out. In some areas it even looked shredded, like it had fought a battle with a weed whacker. His bald head was decorated with a variety of scratches, some worse than others, and his pale, creamy eyes didn't seem to focus on anything; they just stared off into the distance. _Is he blind_? Annabeth wondered to herself. He also wasn't a familiar figure, and Annabeth was sure she'd never heard of a dangerous blind man in a wrecked bathrobe.

"We've come here to collect our bounty for Gaea's reward," the woman spoke sweetly, acting as if she was informing the daughter of Athena that there was a chance of rain tomorrow. Then, her tone strangely switched a little, and she said, "Bring the other demigod with you and turn yourselves in to us."

Annabeth oddly felt obliged to follow the lady's orders, ready to drag Percy over to the trio, but from living with Piper on board the Argo II, Annabeth quickly realized what was going on. The woman was charm-speaking Annabeth, and if it hadn't been for her practice in blocking out Piper's words, Annabeth would've given in right then and there.

"No," Annabeth replied, shocking the woman. "That's not going to happen."

The over-dressed woman narrowed her eyes at Annabeth, pondering the reason to why the demigod had been able to resist her charm speak. Then it hit her.

"You've been hanging around that Piper girl, haven't you?" she snarled exasperatedly at Annabeth.

"You know Piper?"

"Of course I know that wretched daughter of Aphrodite! She ruined my perfectly good store just to save her two little friends, some useless venti, and a paralyzed satyr." The woman snorted. "I would've let her have them, too, if she'd just agreed to pay the right price!" Annabeth could hear the frustration and pent-up hate building in the lady's voice. "All I wanted was to sell my goods to the world! Everyone would know of Medea and her amazing, life-changing merchandise! So many _favors_ I'd have, so many people would do my command for just one of my precious potions…"

"I'm sorry, uh…Medea," Annabeth replied softly, trying not to set off the woman's temper any more. "I'm sure that one day you will have that dream reputation. Right now, however, Percy and I really need to get going…"

"Percy?" the disheveled, dirty man spat, turning to face Medea and Midas. His blindness caused him to look a tad to the left of where they actually stood, but they simply pretended that he was facing them. "Percy Jackson? _That's_ the darn demigod we're after? I thought it was just another famous half-blood like Hercules or Jason, but _Percy Jackson_? Oh, he'll be going to Gaea alright," the old man snickered menacingly.

"How do you know him?" Annabeth asked while she subtly scooted back from her position on the ground, afraid of his answer.

"How do I know him? Ha! He was the cause of my demise! That brat of a demigod tricked me into drinking bad gorgon's blood and giving him the location of Alcyoneus' camp. My remains have only just gotten back together, and I still am not well enough to leave Tartarus. My oracle abilities had been stripped from me, so now I only see some things rather than all. I will never forgive Percy Jackson for that."

"Serves…you right, Phineas" Percy shot back, lifting his tired head up in order to confront his old enemy.

"You and him have met?" Annabeth questioned her boyfriend, helping him into a sitting position in which he used her for support.

"Oh yeah," Percy replied bitterly. Turning back to Phineas, Percy continued, "You…You were…horrible to those…those harpies…All they wanted…was some food, and…and poor Ella was…practically starving when we found her! She's…still unhealthily skinny and…and afraid of most people. You scarred her for life."

"So you did keep her?" Phineas smirked. "She is of great value, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. She will aid you greatly later on, if you ever live to see that harpy again. Right now, however, that is not a path in your foreseeable future."

Phineas, Medea, and Midas all approached the two demigods, arms at the ready to grab them as their prisoners. Quickly thinking, Annabeth whipped out her dagger and stole Riptide from Percy's pocket, clicking into a full sword. She then, after softly laying down Percy on the ground once more, she stood to face the three enemies.

"Don't come any farther," Annabeth threatened, waving the weapons in front of her. "I'm doubly armed and very experienced in using two swords at once." Okay, that was lie. But they didn't have to know that, did they?

The trio did hesitate, luckily for Annabeth and Percy, and they stopped in their advance at the tips of Annabeth's dagger and sword.

"It was expected that you'd resist. Very well, I guess we must compromise," Medea sighed. She removed her hand from behind her back, revealing a small, sparkling blue bottle.

"This is a vile of pure, cleansed water mixed with a few chemicals of my own. This is guaranteed to heal Percy and return him to his strong, healthy, and truly annoying self once again."

"Hey," Percy mumbled, not strong enough to retort any better than that. He was presently lying on his stomach with his eyes closed as if he was falling asleep.

Annabeth gulped. "I take it you're not going to just give it to me, are you? What's in it for you three?"

Medea let out a small laugh, "I knew you were a smart one, Annabeth. We'll heal Percy and let you go if you leave him to us. We want that reward."

Now it was Annabeth's turn to laugh. "Yeah right. I'm not going to just hand him over to you. You three and half of Tartarus want that reward; what makes you any different?"

"If you don't give him to us, he'll just die from his sickness," Midas said offhand, seemingly uncaring about what was going on. To prove the King's point, Percy let out a racking cough as the illness began to reach his lungs.

Phineas raised a finger pointedly and, smiling viciously, said, "I can verify that he won't make it to the Doors without this potion." Percy coughed again, drawing in a labored breath. "He's already nearing the end."

"To sum up," King Midas announced, "It's either live and give a healed Percy to Gaea, or let him die now and move on knowing you did nothing to save him."

"Will you give him the potion immediately?" Annabeth asked, trying to keep them talking and form a plan to get out of this situation. So far, it wasn't looking too good. Percy would die without that potion; Annabeth knew it. However, what if Medea was lying about what the potion does? At this point, Annabeth had no choice but to try it.

"Of course," Medea said with false sympathy. "After all, we can't turn in a dead sacrifice to Gaea, now can we?"

The proved that the potion would indeed heal Annabeth's boyfriend.

"O-Okay," Annabeth sniffed, putting on a fake show of sorrow. She had a plan. "Could…Could I say goodbye to Percy first?"

"Ugh, fine," Phineas grumbled, crossing his arms and rolling his white eyes at her sappy "teen romance" attitude.

Annabeth knelt down next to the son of Poseidon, and she began whispering in his ear. She even managed to cry a single tear to sell her act as she murmured, "Percy, I've got a plan. Just stay awake and listen to me, okay?"

Percy mumbled something back that vaguely sounded like, "Okay."

And so Annabeth told him her plan, to which he readily agreed. Standing back up and stepping away, she sighed, "You can take him now."

Medea approached the demigod, picking him up in a bridal style. "Thank you for your cooperation," she smirked at Annabeth.

"Feed him the potion," Annabeth demanded.

"What?"

"Feed him the antidote. I want to know he took it and had some last hours of health before the sacrifice."

Midas, Medea, and Phineas all thought about it before Midas said, "Just give the boy the potion, Medea."

"Fine, but only if you hold back the girl so she doesn't get any ideas."

Phineas grabbed a hold of Annabeth's arms from behind. _This wasn't part of the plan_, Annabeth thought, _but it won't be much of a problem. I can work with this. _Then, noticing who had her prisoner, scoffed,_ Way to go, Medea. Give the blind man the prisoner._

"Blast this stupid curse," Phineas mumbled as Medea popped open the vile and poured it into Percy's mouth. "I can't see the outcome of this; whether or not he will survive the potion is unclear."

"What?" Annabeth coughed, panicking at Phineas' words.

"Some of Medea's potions can be a little too strong for their cause. I've seen people go up in flames after a taste of one. Let's just hope your little _boyfriend_ is strong in that regard."

Annabeth turned her worried gaze back to Medea and Percy. The son of Poseidon coughed once more before opening his bright green eyes, peering up at Medea.

Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. _Thank the gods_, she thought happily.

"See? All healed," Medea grinned.

"Yeah, thanks for that," Percy smiled mischievously, looking up at Medea with knowing eyes. "However, you forgot to ask how _I_ felt about being the sacrifice." With that, Percy's fist shot up from his side and slammed into Medea's nose.

"OW!" she screamed, dropping Percy to the ground. He swiftly stood up, suddenly filled with renewed energy.

"It's a 'no' from me," he answered. "Great potion, by the way. I feel amazing already!" He kicked out his leg and tripped the woman, sending her flying to the ground. "I think you also forgot the consequences of healing a demigod into a ready-to-fight state. Not a smart move." Percy then turned to look at his girlfriend.

"Annabeth, sword!"

Annabeth, now grinning like a madman at the success of her plan and the now healthy Percy, chucked him Riptide. He caught it easily and sliced it through Medea's midsection, dissolving her into dust. Simultaneously, Annabeth launched her foot backwards and kicked Phineas in the groin, making him squeal and fall to his knees. She turned around and sank her dagger into his leg, transforming him into dust as well.

The fighting duo then faced Midas, who lifted his glowing hands in surrender. Then, he lunged forward and tried to grab Annabeth's wrist in a last attempt to turn her to gold. Fortunately, Annabeth had ADHD and quick reflexes, so she simply hopped backwards and avoided the touch.

She and Percy made eye contact and knew what to do.

"Nice meeting you, Midas," she said with a salute before turning around, grabbing Percy's hand, and running straight for the cliff behind them.

"Where are you going? Don't you know what monster lives down there?" Midas called out incredulously.

"We'll take our chances!" Percy yelled over his shoulder, and he and Annabeth leaped off the edge into the ravine.

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**And that's where I'll leave you all. What do you think? Don't be afraid to leave comments and reviews for me! I love reading and replying to them all, so please post your opinions, ideas, and/or advice!**

**Thank you to twilotter for the author favorite and follow, and thank you to Kersteen and aishacake220 for the story follows!**

**Hibye: Haha you're welcome! Thank you so much for your multiple reviews, by the way! They make me smile :)**

**Athena: Has the goddess Athena herself reviewed my story?! :0 Haha just kidding, but thank you for the review! I will continue to update when I can, and I'm so pleased you like this story!**

**Please review/follow/favorite, and stay tuned for Chapter 7!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	8. Welcoming Party of the Ravine

**Hello everybody! It's finally time for my weekly update, so I hope you all enjoy this most recent chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus**

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Percy's POV

_Wow. This plan was not thought through well enough,_ Percy grimly thought to himself as he leapt of the cliff, gripping his girlfriend's hand tightly.

The original plan had been to escape Midas by jumping off the edge of the cliff and hopefully landing on a slope of some kind. Percy hadn't really taken the time to consider what would happen if there _wasn't_ a slope to aid him. He didn't consider the river of lava that would incinerate them on contact or the sharp, jagged rocks that lined the bottom of the ravine with the capability to impale both demigods.

At the moment, Percy and Annabeth were both sailing through the air, arching down in the exact direction of a giant, particularly pointy spike. _Impalement imminent,_ Percy narrated in his mind. _Approaching contact point in 10…9…_

Oh my gods; what was he doing? Was he seriously giving up already? No, Percy wouldn't let his death be that easy. If he was going to die, it would be while fighting, not while fleeing.

ADHD kicking in, Percy came up with his backup plan. Mid-fall, Percy reached his free hand into his pocket and brought out Anaklusmos, clicking it into sword form.

"Percy…" Annabeth warned, panic rising in her voice as the couple dropped closer and closer to the sharp point below.

"Just hold on," was Percy's only response, and he positioned Riptide in a way so that he was holding it upside down and it'd be easy to stab downwards. The son of Poseidon's green eyes narrowed in focus and determination; it was only moments before they were right above the point.

"_Percy!"_ Annabeth yelled urgently, beginning to flail in an attempt to avoid the spear of a rock.

Quick as a cheetah, Percy jabbed his bronze sword down onto the side of the sharp rock seconds before they made contact, using the force to propel his girlfriend and himself away from the danger. They were jerked to the side, steering clear of the point but still close enough to- roughly- slide down the side.

The demigod duo rolled haphazardly to a stop at the bottom, taking a moment to catch their breath and regain their wits.

"That was…a bit of a risky plan, don't you think?" Annabeth panted, flipping off her back and onto her stomach in order to look at Percy.

Percy was still on his back, though he had a guilty little smile on his scraped up face. "We cut it pretty close, didn't we?" he said with a small chuckle.

Annabeth lightly punched Percy's arm- though Annabeth's "soft punch" still hurt- and rolled her eyes. "You are _such_ a Seaweed Brain sometimes."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Percy smiled sarcastically.

By now they were both sitting up, seated right next to each other and gazing out at the lava that slowly swam by them in a river of danger. The heat was floating of the molten river in such intense and compact waves that each blast felt like Percy and Annabeth had just shoved their head's inide a furnace. However, the heat didn't mask the surprising beauty of the orange and red stream coming from the Earth's core.

The top layer of the river was a crimson color that crinkled and cracked as the bright golden liquid below cooked the part of itself that made contact with the cooler air above. Its pace was slow but, in a way, calming and seducing. The slug-paced river inched along in a gooey, rolling fashion, never ceasing in its eerie glow of orange and red.

Percy and Annabeth sat around five feet from the river's banks, basking in the heat and enjoying each other's presence.

"I honestly have no idea what I'd do without you," Percy suddenly said, wrapping his arm around Annabeth and pulling her closer. "In truth, I would've died a hundred times over if you hadn't been there for me."

"Isn't that the truth," Annabeth laughed, her head tilting back a little as she did so. Percy couldn't help but smile; seeing her so happy like that filled him with a joy he'd never known before. He'd do anything for her. Now that he was no longer sick from the Lake, thanks to her, he had vowed to himself that he'd stay alive and protect her. Uselessness was a horrible state, in Percy's opinion. It was torture for him, and having to watch others struggle over you creates such a burden; Percy wanted to be the one saving _them_, not vice versa.

"Percy…if we don't make it-"

"We will," Percy interjected.

"Fine, we will. Hypothetically speaking, if we don't make it out of here…I want you to know just how much you mean to me. Seriously." Annabeth turned her head to look in Percy's eyes, and he noticed how her gray irises were reflecting the orange shine from the lava. "If you had died from the Lake's waters, I don't know what I would've done. I probably wouldn't even make it to the Doors."

"Right back at you," Percy smiled, and he leaned in for a kiss. They stayed like that for a while, having their possible last date. After the scare with the Lake, both half bloods realized just how easily they could lose each other at any given moment. They were each other's lifelines; one could not live without the other. And they both knew it.

It was there, resting by the lava, that the two demigods fell asleep for the first time in Tartarus, both content in each other's company.

When Percy woke in what he assumed was the next morning- he couldn't really tell time in Tartarus- he leaned over to shake Annabeth awake. "We should get going," he informed her. They were lucky to have not been eaten or killed in their sleep, and he wasn't going to push their luck in waiting around any longer.

"You're right," Annabeth yawned, stretching her arms up over her head. Percy, already standing up and pulling her up as well, said, "For all we know, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and everybody are already at the Doors."

"Let's hope so," Annabeth sighed. "I could use some sunshine in this dark pit of endless obstacles. And food." Percy stomach rumbled at the thought of having something to eat. He hadn't eaten since...well, since his last date with Annabeth up in Rome. That seemed like forever ago.

"Since you mentioned obstacles," Percy started, "didn't Midas say something about an über dangerous monster down here?"

"Where _isn't_ there an über dangerous monster?"

"True enough."

Percy and Annabeth were now looking around the large ravine in which they were situated. The walls were too steep to climb, and behind them was just the cliff they'd leapt off of. Midas was nowhere to be seen at the top. All along the bottom of the gorge were hundreds of jagged rocks and random hills, ranging from the size of a terrier to the size of an entire school.

"I guess our only option is to go forward," Annabeth commented, half talking to herself. Percy bowed down, waving his arm in the direction they planned to go.

"Shall we?"

Annabeth pretended to curtsy before replying, "Yes, we shall."

Laughing, they continued down the baking rocks lining the lava river, climbing over the big ones not without difficulty.

Percy was approaching the next big hill when he noticed how the lava reflected off this particular rock in a way that made its surface look like a glowing mass of golden fur.

With Annabeth right behind him, he put his right hand on the rock, searching for a handhold to help him up and over it.

Immediately, Percy jumped back while exclaiming, "Holy Poseidon!" The rock that resembled fur was _actually fur._

The giant mound of monster lying before the two half bloods shifted at Percy's touch, seemingly waking up from a nap. An oversized paw slid out from underneath the body, followed by three more becoming visible as the monster lifted itself up.

The thing was enormous. As Percy slowly brought his gaze upwards in an examination of the beast, he first noticed the pitch-black claws scraping the rocky ground as they flexed in an anticipation of their next kill. Moving farther up, he saw the shining golden legs bound with incredibly large muscles. Next was the long flank of the monster's body, rippling in anger, and then its tail swinging wildly behind it. Finally the monster brought up its mane-covered head to let out a thundering roar.

"Oh my gods," Annabeth gasped. "It's the-"

"Nemean Lion," Percy finished for her. The daughter of Athena gave her boyfriend a questioning look. Even Percy himself knew he wasn't the smartest when it came to recognizing mythological entities, but this monster…this one he'd met before.

"And you know this how?" Annabeth asked him.

"I fought him at the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. on my way to rescue you from Luke and Atlas," he replied casually with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Defeated him with a bag of space food. Unfortunately, there's none of that here. Unless, of course, it's a form of punishment for the demons down into Tartarus…"

Annabeth sighed with a roll of her eyes. "I doubt it." Suddenly, the lion before them happened to look where he'd heard voices and spotted them, growling with menace. _I'll bet he recognizes me,_ Percy thought. _It'd be hard to forget your killer and the last person you ever saw._

Percy twirled Riptide expertly in one hand while taunting the lion. "Come back for more, big guy?"

"Actually, it appears that _you've_ come back for more," a mysterious voice echoed from behind the Nemean Lion.

"Oh no," Percy moaned in recognition of the speaker. The lion had by now turned to face the two demigods head on, and from behind him sauntered over an overweight woman holding a vicious-looking Chihuahua.

The lady was sporting a horrible denim ensemble, including a hat and too-tight dress. Her teeth were as sharp as the rocks that surrounded them, and her dark, snake-like eyes were as small and evil as her dog's. Her forked tongue waved in between her disgusting teeth.

"Long time no see, Echidna," Percy spat. The last time he'd seen this particular monster had been on his very first quest, when he was 12 years old.

"Echidna…" Annabeth muttered, deep in thought. Then, with a short gasp, she exclaimed, "You met her on the St. Louis Arch, right?"

"Yep."

"How'd you defeat her?"

That's when Percy was hit with a scary revelation. He _hadn't_ killed her- he'd jumped out of the monuement in an attempt to survive. Techniacally, Echidna had won that battle. How she'd ended up in Tartarus was beyond Percy's knowledge; probably another demigod had slayed her.

"I-I didn't," Percy stammered to his girlfriend. Both Annabeth and her boyfriend were now silent.

Echidna let out a raspy laugh. "That's right. The wimpy little demigod had to jump down into the river below so his wittle Daddy could save him." The woman paused before continuing with a knowing grin, "He couldn't even protect himself, much less the family he'd been with in the viewing room."

Percy felt a pang of guilt. He'd forgotten about them for the time being, but now the memory surfaced like a great white shark. He'd left an innocent family to possibly die. In fact, if his memory wasn't failing him, the mother of the family had been taken into the hospital because of it. Percy's face grew red with shame and embarrassment. He hated not being able to save others, and when he'd cowardly jumped off the Arch, he'd sacrificed three or four lives just to save his own. What kind of demigod was he? He was no hero. He-

"Percy." Annabeth had put her hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her. He hadn't even noticed that his eyes had been filling with tears at the memory. "She's using your fatal flaw against you. There's nothing you could've down to save the family, and they all survived anyways, right?" Percy nodded but said nothing. "Don't let her words get to you. Stay strong." She was right. His personal loyalty was getting the best of him. With those words of encouragement, Percy wiped his eyes free of tears and positioned himself into a battle stance.

"Get ready to enter Tartarus for the second time, Echidna."

"That'll only happen if you can get to me." Echidna set her Chihuahua on the ground, and immediately it began to transform into its real self- a Chimera. It's pointy little head changed into a bloody lion's one, while its body morphed into that of a goat. Its tail grew into a long snake, snapping at the air angrily. The Chimera was half the size of the Nemean Lion, but nonetheless pretty big.

"Attack!" Echidna ordered her two minions, her eyes flashing with a maniacal madness.

Both the Nemean Lion and the Chimera leapt forward, claws extended to rip Percy and Annabeth to shreds.

"Split up!" Annabeth called as she and Percy dove opposite ways to avoid the attack.

Percy rolled to his right and jumped to his feet in one swift motion, sword at the ready. Echidna's Chimera turned and growled at him, foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal. Percy's eyes swept his surroundings, looking for something to help him defeat the monster. All he saw were giant rock spikes, a steeply sloping cliff behind him, and a fresh lava flow out aways in front of him. He could make this work.

Turning on his heels, Percy whipped around and sprinted towards up the side of the curving wall of the ravine. Predictably, the Chimera followed him. The son of Poseidon easily sprinted up the slope, and when the wall flattened out into a vertical position, he kicked off and flipped in the air. He was planning to come down straight onto the Chimera's back and strike it with his sword. Mid-flip, Percy glanced downward and prepared to stab the beast. Of course, the Chimera's rhinestone collar took that inopportune moment to reflect the glow of the lava, glaring right into Percy's eyes.

"Ah!" he yelped, instinctively covering his eyes with his hands. When he moved his hands to see again, Percy realized he only had time to tuck and roll; he'd missed his chance at the Chimera and overshot the jump. He hit the ground as smoothly as you could while doing a wall-supported back flip, and he skidded to a halt behind the Chimera and about 10 feet from the lava river.

He had a moment to sneak a peek at Annabeth, who was presently on the _opposite_ side of the lava river, riding the back of the Nemean Lion like a cowgirl and trying to find a spot to stab the beast.

Percy had just been cupping has hands around his mouth to yell out, "Go for the mouth!" when a loud _BOOM _shot through the air. Percy, Annabeth, Echidna, and the two lions turned to look at the far end of the ravine off where the lava blended in with the horizon.

"What the Hades was that?" Percy asked no one in particular.

"Something's going on at the Doors of Death," Echidna supplied, seemingly just as confused as the demigods.

"It must be them!" Annabeth yelled to Percy from across the ravine, referring to their friends on the Argo II.

"No duh!" Percy yelled back, a huge grin spreading across his face. If they'd been able to hear the suspicious attack on the Doors all the way in the ravine, that meant that they must be close! However, since the Doors weren't even in sight yet, that signaled to them that it'd still take days to get there. Unless they had a ride…

"Annabeth!" Percy hurriedly called out. "Don't kill the lion!"

"What?" she asked incredulously, gripping its iron fur in order to refrain from being thrown off its back.

"Don't kill it yet! Just trust me!" Then, Percy turned back to face his own oppenent. "Sorry to cut this battle short, but I've got an appointment to keep at the Doors of Death, and I'm not one who likes to be late."

Percy let loose a loud battle cry and charged the Chimera, sword hefted up above his head to strike down the beast from his childhood. The hybrid monster looked startled at the demigod's sudden burst of courage, and it had no time to react before Percy launched Riptide into its goat-like chest. The Chimera roared in pain as it stumbled away from Percy, dissolving into a gray dust that clung to the rocks like bugs to sap.

"One down, two to go."

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**...and I leave you all with a battle cliffhanger! Oddly, this chapter felt really short to me, even though it's over 2,800 words. I would've made it a bit longer, but I have to get my next Ordoa's Arena chapter out as well. That story is 3 updates behind this one, and I'm sure those readers would like to see an update by now. Nevertheless, I will still update both stories each and every weekend.**

**Drumroll, please!**

**It's thank-you time:**

**Thank you to lunanightshade123 and WarLord of Poseidon for the story and author favorites as well as all the follows!**

**Hibye: I'm so glad you love this story as much as you do, and, again, thank you for your frequent reviews! Also, if I haven't updated by Sunday night THEN I will have not updated that weekend, so there's no need to worry about getting an update beforehand ;) .**

**WarLord of Poseidon: Thank you for your review, follow, and favorite! I'm so happy that you like my story and I do plan on continuing it for a while, so please continue to read!**

**Reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**

**PS: If anyone was wondering why Medea and Phineas turned to dust even though they weren't monsters, it's because once someone is sent to Tartarus, they are sorted as a monster and forever will be one. Percy and Annabeth are _not_ monsters because they weren't sentenced to life in Tartarus, they simply fell in. **


	9. How To Hitch Hike a Lion

**"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello- goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" - The White Rabbit**

**I am SO sorry this took so long to post; I'm an entire week late! My days were so busy and last night, as I tried to work on this chapter, my computer refused to be quick and continually gave me a rainbow circle symbol- the symbol of impending doom. **

**However, I have my chapter for you now, and I appreciate your patience.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus**

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Annabeth's POV

Annabeth could now officially cross "Rodeo riding an oversized lion" off of her bucket list. Of course, why it'd be on there in the first place was beyond her comprehension.

As soon as she'd swung up onto his back, the Nemean Lion had seen red. How _dare_ an incompetent demigod try so much as to _ride_ him! No, the prideful lion would not stand for that. That was why, as soon as her leg had swung up and over the giant beast's furry back, the Nemean Lion began his rampage.

Immediately, Annabeth had been forced to grip the lion's fluffy brown mane as it bucked and span and jerked every which way. The sole demigod straddling its back was forced to do everything she could to keep from being thrown onto the rocky ground below or into the lava inching by on her right. Annabeth's teeth were clenched tight, for surely if she didn't she'd bite her tongue in half.

She had tried to clamp her legs together to give her more stability on the wild animal's rough back- his golden pelt was no where near as soft as his mane- but the added pressure it applied to her broken ankle had caused her to let out a gasp of pain. _Why couldn't Medea have given us both some of that magic healing potion? _Annabeth thought bitterly. _I'm sick of having to be wary of that injury._ With a start, Annabeth realized that she'd been subconsciously wishing that Medea had fed her the potion _rather_ than Percy. She mentally punched herself. Percy had needed that medicine way more than she had; a broken ankle will always be outmatched by death.

Speaking of Percy, how was the newly-healed demigod holding up? Annabeth turned around just in time to see Percy run the Chimera through with Riptide. She let out a small whoop of victory. That was one out of three of the monsters they were facing at the moment.

Technically, it'd be one out of two. Percy had wanted her to keep the crazed lion alive for the time being. Annabeth had already guessed Percy's plan- he wanted to ride the Nemean Lion to the Doors of Death. Yeah, great idea, if you could actually _control_ the monster. It was definitely not as easy as Percy must've thought it was.

Suddenly, the Nemean Lion reared back on its hind legs, trying haphazardly to shake Annabeth off. With a high-pitched shriek, Annabeth lost her grip and slid down its coarse back, reaching its hips and eventually its long tail. Now that she had a smaller target, the daughter of Athena was able to wrap her arms and legs around the golden tail, clinging to it for her dear life.

The lion slammed back down onto all four of its legs, satisfied with its momentary victory of ridding itself of the demigod. However, the lion did feel an unexplained weight on its tail, and it turned its head to see the blonde-haired menace still holding on to it. With a roar of frustration, the lion showcased his bright pink maw and rows of incredibly sharp teeth.

Annabeth knew that if she could throw her dagger into its mouth, she might be able to kill the lion. She and Percy would just have to find a more complying ride. Unfortunately, if she threw her dagger, she could miss, and either way she'd loose her only weapon.

Annabeth guessed that the lion had finally had enough, because one second she was hanging near the ground, the next she was being whipped up high, clutching the tail even tighter to keep from flying up and away.

"Could you-" She was cut off by being tossed to the right.

"-just stop-" Now Annabeth was flung to the left.

"-for a second-" Now upwards she was hefted.

"-so I can _think?"_ And back down towards the rocky ravine.

The Nemean Lion roared as its answer, leaving Annabeth to be whipped all around on the beast's tail. At the speed she was going, the world surrounding her began to blur. She couldn't distinguish the dark sky from the rocks, nor make out any individual details.

One thing, though, did manage to catch her eye. She saw a large blip of blue denim invade her visual radar, and she immediately recognized the shape as Echidna. The lion had brought her so close that if she'd reached out her fingers she would probably brush against the monster's dress.

Wait- she could reach Echidna? That little tidbit of information quickly jump-started an idea in Annabeth's brain, forming as swiftly as only those of a child of Athena's could.

The demigod waited impatiently as the lion brought her high into the sky once more before slamming her back down, whipping her back up at the last minute. The creature was trying to use the momentum to knock Annabeth off, and obviously it wasn't working.

The lion's tail began circling again, and Annabeth thought to herself, _It's now or never. _

The daughter of Athena slipped her hand into her dagger's sheath, bringing back out with it the bronze weapon, and held it close to her to keep it from being knocked out of her grip. The large blue blur grew nearer and nearer as the lion's tail made its final rotation. Launching her arm outwards, Annabeth sliced through Echidna's side faster than the monster could've reacted.

Annabeth was finally granted the chance to catch a breather as the lion let his tail droop in exhaustion- wildly flinging a long tail like that takes more energy than you'd think.

Now that Annabeth could see straight again, she was granted the sight of seeing a pile of dust covering a denim dress lying limply on the floor, and just a few feet behind that a second demigod, he's arms and sword raised above his head.

"Darn it, Wise Girl, you beat me to it," Percy laughed, lowering his sword and returning it to its pen form.

"What can I say? Being a daughter of Athena has its perks." Looking up at the giant lion taking a quick break, Annabeth asked Percy, "Are you sure you want to ride this thing? He's not very controlla-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the half-blood was flung up into the air, the speed snatching the air straight from her lungs. She had been resting herself while the Nemean Lion took a break, so her now-relaxed grip was easily broken as the force of her sudden flight yanked her off the tail and up, up, up into the air.

"PERCY!" she screamed as she hovered for just a millisecond before plunging back down, falling right above the lava stream.

"Annabeth! Just, just hold on!"

"Hold on to WHAT?" she snapped back. She was dropping with her back to the ground, so all she could see was blackness above her. Annabeth could feel the heat from the molten rock growing more and more intense as she continued her descent. _This is gonna hurt_, she thought grimly, squeezing her eyes shut and instinctively bringing her knees to her chest. Why she did this, she didn't know. It's not like it would protect her from the fiery river she was about to be incinerated in or anything.

**_Thud_****.** Annabeth was suddenly knocked to the side by something hard slamming into her from the left. Instead of splashing into what would've only resulted in her death, she rolled across the gravely banks of the river, coming to a halt next to a spike jutting out of the ground.

Her eyelids peeled themselves open, and only now could she see what- or rather, who- had just saved her life.

The son of Poseidon was breathing heavily a foot or two away from her, lying on his back and trying to catch his breath. Percy had dove into her mid-fall and knocked her out of harm's way.

"Why…Why couldn't you be a daughter of Hepheastus, huh?" Percy panted, slowly regaining his breath. "If you had been fire-proof like Leo, I wouldn't have to be hurling myself over rivers of lava to save your sorry butt."

Annabeth let out a small laugh of hysteria as the realization of how close she'd been to death settled in, sparked by her boyfriend's little remark. Percy then joined in, but both of them were abruptly cut off as they were forced to scramble to the side as a giant paw smashed down in between the couple.

Annabeth had briefly forgotten that the Nemean Lion was still there, still trying to kill them both.

"Hey Kitty Cat, how about you help us out a bit, okay?" Percy called up to it, standing in a rush and putting his hands out in front of him as if to steady the beast. "We need a ride to the Doors of Death; you think you could help us out with that?"

The Nemean Lion swiped at Percy's face, but he simply ducked down to avoid the claws. "Now, now, no need to get testy," he taunted the monster. Roaring, the lion slammed his paw down right where Percy had been standing a moment before. The Nemean Lion didn't even have a chance to pull away before Percy leapt onto the golden foot, climbed up the muscular leg, and finally reached its back.

"C'mon!" Percy yelled down at Annabeth, knocking her out of a stupor she'd been in.

Annabeth launched herself at the Lion, grabbing its golden fur and pulling herself up its flank and onto its back alongside Percy.

"So…what now?" Percy asked her over his shoulder.

"You got a way to command this thing?" she asked whilst rolling her eyes.

"Uhh…" Percy said in a moment's hesitation before exclaiming, "Hiyah!", hitting his feet to the lion's sides like he would a horse. The lion growled and, instead of moving forward, jerked to the side and scrambled up and out of the ravine, sending rocks and boulders tumbling down the cliff. The demigods grabbed tufts of fur to prevent themselves from falling off during the lion's vertical climb. Once at the top and on flat ground, the lion paused.

"It's a start," Percy smiled. "Now, go that way!" He pointed to his right, straight at the horizon. The lion didn't respond. It seemed frozen, its only signs of life being its sides moving as it breathed.

"Go! Andale! Mush!" Percy ordered the lion, all to no avail.

"Why isn't he responding?" Annabeth asked, half to herself. "I'm not expecting him to follow our orders or anything, but wouldn't he at least be attempting to get us off his back by now?"

A childish laugh echoed around them, dripping with mischief to come.

"What…was _that_?" Percy asked. Then, raising his voice, he yelled, "What are you doing here? Are you the reason our ride is being stubborn all of a sudden?"

The laugh sounded again, this time much closer. Annabeth's eyes strained to see the young…whatever it was through the darkness, but even after her time in Tartarus, her eyes never adjusted to the pitch black. So focused was she on the land around her that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, followed by a soft "Boo."

Whipping around, Annabeth was greeted with a wide smile plastered on a 9 year-old's pale face. His grin was missing a tooth right up front, leaving a dark gap in its place. His proximity to her was so close that she immediately scooted herself up against Percy. The son of Poseidon turned around to look at the child as well.

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked him.

The kid laughed before saying, "I'm Agrios. And you are?"

"Very uncomfortable. Would you please give me some space?"

Chuckling, the kid tumbled right off the Nemean Lion's back and plummeted towards the ground.

"Oh my gods," Percy gasped, startled at the boy's sudden death wish. He leaned over the edge to see if the boy was okay, when all of a sudden Agrios zoomed right back up into the air, a large pair of bright white wings extending behind him.

"And you thought I was going to let myself fall!" he laughed, clutching his stomach. "Oh Hermes, your faces were priceless!"

"Hermes?" Annabeth wondered. Usually a demigod's exclamations were with his or her parent's name; for example, Nico would say, "What the Hades?" or Leo would shout, "Holy Hepheastus!"

Looking Agrios over, Annabeth asked him, "Are you a son of Hermes?"

"Yep!" he replied, doing a somersault in the air. "As well as the son of an empousa!" Annabeth felt Percy shudder at the mention of the female monsters.

"I hate empousai," he murmured under his breath, quiet enough so that Agrios couldn't hear.

"So, Agrios…why are you here?" Annabeth asked frankly.

The angel-boy was now hovering upside down, his toga somehow staying upright on him but his hair falling around his head like a blonde halo. "I'm known for reeking havoc and unruliness wherever I go. My name means 'wild,' you know. Obviously, that kind of mischeif would land me in this place." With that, he flew down to hover right in front of the Nemean Lion's face. "I'm the one who put this guy right here into a trance. As soon as I release him, he'll be as wild as Dionysus at a bar party!"

"Could you, um,_ not_ do that?" Percy asked Agrios, able to imagine just how wild that meant. "We are in a hurry to get to the Doors of Death, and we need to be able to control this lion as our ride to get there. So, having him out of control would be the last thing we'd like."

"Hmm," Agrios hummed to himself, looking bored. "Control is never fun. That's why I spend my time making people and animals crazy with madness and energy. If you take my name and mix it around, you'll get 'Ragios,' which is pretty close to 'Rabies' if you think about it…"

Annabeth doubted that the word 'rabies' came from Agrios' name, but she decided it'd be best not to bring that up.

Walking on air, the son of Hermes began to circle the two demigods sitting atop the Nemean Lion's back. "Keeping this monster in control right now is very tiring, and if I lose control by, oh, _falling asleep_, it'll be off into the wild for you two. And I am very sleepy today…" Agrios mused, throwing in a yawn for effect.

Both Percy's and Annbeth's eyes widened at Agrios' words. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me," Agrios smirked before lying down on top of the lion's head. He stretched his arms wide and, curling into a ball to go to sleep, was quickly stopped once he found a bronze sword thrust under his chin.

"Fall asleep and you won't be waking up," Percy threatened the boy, narrowing his eyes in determination. "I've slayed far worse than you, Agrios, so this will be as easy as one…" He pushed the sword a little closer in.

"Two…" Agrios broke out into a nervous sweat but refused to budge.

"Thr-" Up flew Agrios, wide awake now.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you be. Jeez, you're such a party pooper," Agrios sighed as he shot off into the distance, fast as a bullet.

"At least we're not perched on top of an about-to-be-berserk animal anymore," Annabeth observed. "Now its just a frozen animal that is still of no use to us."

No later than after Annabeth finished her sentence did the Nemean Lion stir, shaking his enormous mane and stretching his large jaw out.

Then it let loose a high-pitched shriek and sprinted off towards the horizon, going at speeds Annabeth hadn't thought possible. She lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Percy's chest to keep herself from falling off; Percy clutched a fistful of the lion's mane to steady himself.

"That little-" Percy was interrupted by one of the lion's random, jerky movements as it ran. "He went back on his word and made it go crazy!"

"At least we're going in the right direction!" Annabeth shouted over the pounding of the lion's feet against the rough ground.

That, my friends, was how the two half-bloods found themselves riding a giant lion towards their freedom, with death by lava down on one side in the ravine and infinite unknown on the other, neither a desirable option. Forward was the only way to go.

* * *

**What'd you all think? I personally like the OC of Agrios :) . It was fun to write the part of a mischevious little boy bent on causing problems. Should I have him come back later? He could be a key pawn in my plans... :) Let me know in the comments!**

**A big thank you to all of my readers for waiting so patiently for this chapter to be posted! I am so grateful that you all continued to follow anyways, and just know that I will always eventually get a chapter up.**

**Individual thank-you time!**

**Thank you to The Wild West Pyro and Hocapontas for the story favorites, and thank you to The Wild West Pyro, Hocapontas, and Puppylove77 for the story follows!**

**Wild West Pyro- I like the idea of bringing in the deceased demigods, and even though it'll be a little different than having them follow Percy and Annabeth, I will be mentioning them and including a scene with them in it :). Thank you for the idea, and when I post it I'll give you credit.**

**WarLord of Poseidon- Wow! I'm so honored by your comment, really! :D I have taken your advice and have come up with some more events to take place in Tartarus; I can' wait to write them all. I have also brewed up a whole new batch of OC's to share with you all, Agrios being the first of many. If you have any ideas for OCs, feel free to let me know. I'll try my best to include them and will give you credit for your ideas.**

**Hibye: I'M ALIVE! I have risen from the dead to publish the next section of Each Other's Lifelines! **

**Guest on Chapter 1: I like what you did there, with the "o" being part of the phrase and face ;) .**

**Like always, please read, review, favorite, and/or follow!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


	10. Dangerous Duo

**Hello everyone- it's that time again! Chapter 10 is finally here! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus or Divergent **

* * *

Percy's POV

Percy made a mental note to talk to Hermes when he got out of Tartarus- that kid Agrios needed to learn what the words "No" and "Don't" meant, because they sure as Hades don't mean, "Yes, please set the wild lion free."

Now Percy found himself bouncing along on the sharp-furred back of the Nemean Lion, racing alongside the edge of a deep ravine. The monster would occasionally jerk its head this way and that, causing Percy to momentarily lose his grip on its mane and almost slide right off the lion's golden back.

"I hate that kid," Percy grumbled, still ticked off from their encounter with Agrios.

"Now, now," Annabeth said, her arms wrapped around Percy's middle to keep from falling. "No need to get testy." Her quote of what Percy had said earlier to the Nemean Lion made him smile, despite their unfortunate circumstances.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied, calming down a bit. "At least he set us off in the right direction."

Of course, the lion took that opportune moment to veer far to the left, heading directly out of the needed path and straight into the darkness.

"I just _had _to say that, didn't I?" Percy yelled into the sky in exasperation.

"Let's just get off now," Annabeth suggested, taking her arms off of Percy. "If we ride him any further we'll completely lose track of where we are."

"Good point," Percy responded while cautiously letting go of the lion's mane. Peering over the edge, Percy watched the rough ground fly by as the Nemean Lion barreled over the terrain. "Uh…are you sure this is safe?" Percy questioned Annabeth, turning to look at her doubtfully. His girlfriend was already sitting with two legs on the same side, ready to slide right off.

"I'm pretty sure," she answered, shifting her weight to and fro. She didn't look eager to test out her plan.

"You ever leapt off a moving lion before?" Percy asked sarcastically.

"Obviously not, Seaweed Brain, but they jumped off of a moving train in Divergent, so how hard can it be?"

"I don't agree with your reasoning," Percy stated frankly.

"Neither do I," she replied; next thing Percy knew, Annabeth had slid down the Lion's side, kicking off his hide so that she'd land away from his thundering feet.

"Hurry!" she called to him, already becoming farther and farther away.

Percy gulped and slid off, kicking out from the golden fur and momentarily soaring through the air. At the last second, he tucked himself into a roll, landing fairly smoothly, though not without any scrapes or cuts.

"Annabeth?" he called out. Until now, he had been using the lava's light to make his surroundings visible. Now that the lion had taken them far away from the ravine hosting the lava river- thanks Agrios- Percy could see nothing.

"Percy?" came a voice that was _way_ closer than Percy had expected it to be. The next thing he knew he was being knocked down to the ground, and something was laying on top of him.

"Wise Girl?" he asked, pushing her off. "How'd you catch up so fast?"

"Seaweed Brain, I _ran,"_ answered Annabeth's voice. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew that she was rolling her eyes at his comment.

"Oh, right." Looking around- which was basically pointless- Percy saw pitch black and nothing else, but he felt like something was all around him. It wasn't the suffocation of the blackness like before. This was more like when you feel as if someone is standing right behind you, but when you turn around no one's there.

"Annabe-" was all Percy could get out before a light flickered on behind him, followed by another, and another. Twisting around, Percy saw that torches had just been lit, but by who was a mystery.

Torches continued to light themselves in a circle, surrounding Percy and Annabeth.

"What's going on?" Annabeth whispered in awe and anxiety at the magic torches' lighting. The light from their fiery flames washed the area in an orange and red glow, and Percy could now see why he'd felt surrounded. Lining the torches in an outer ring were roughly-built houses. They weren't in a perfect circle; some were farther back than others, some twisted so that their corner was angled towards the middle. Each one, however, was built the same way. Rotting wooden frame, grassy yellow roofs, and doorways hanging off their hinges. Percy counted seven homes in total. The odd part, though, was…

"Where are all the people?" Annabeth asked quietly. She was right. There were absolutely no signs of life anywhere. Had everyone abandoned the make-shift village? Obviously the homes couldn't have built themselves.

Slowly standing and helping Annabeth up as well, Percy called out, "Hello?" No reply. There weren't even any crickets to emphasize the silence he was greeted with.

Annabeth shivered. "This is beyond creepy, and I've seen some pretty crazy things in my life."

"No kidding," Percy replied absentmindedly. He found himself being drawn to a home that was facing directly towards himself and Annabeth.

Annabeth, realizing that Percy was planning to enter one of the houses, grabbed his arm. "I don't think we should go in there."

"Who knows what could be inside, Annabeth? There could be a monster, yes, but…there could be food. Water. A bed."

Percy hadn't realized till now just how hungry he was, and seeing the houses had stirred up images of what was usually found inside. The mention of those items had won Annabeth over, and she decided to follow Percy.

Stepping up the short stairs to the front porch, Percy winced at every creak and groan the old wood made. He swore he felt like he was trapped inside a horror movie of some sort. Percy knew that he was taking a huge risk by entering the strange house, but the possibility of food…of water…

The son of Poseidon hesitantly pushed open the broken door, calling once again, "Hello? Is anybody in there?"

It was darker in there that it was outside, and it took Percy's eyes a moment to adjust. When he could see through the shadows, Percy saw that he was looking at an empty room. Absolutely nothing on the inside.

Percy entered the house completely, closely followed by Annabeth. "What is this place?" Annabeth thought out loud. "I'd assumed that maybe it was a refuge for people in Tartarus, but empty houses serve no purpose."

Percy crossed to the left side of the house as Annabeth did the right. Mistake.

Their separation triggered a screeching noise, and in the middle of the shack a thick metal wall slammed down, blocking the demigods from reaching each other.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled, admittedly freaked out. He slammed his fists on the wall, but it did nothing.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed from the other side. She was also banging on the metal divider; Percy could hear it, but the wall was so sturdy that it didn't even vibrate the slightest with the hits it was taking.

Turning to go out the door, Percy noticed that the wall had come down right in front of where the door would be, wide enough to cover the entrance and tall enough to reach the roof. There were no windows on Percy's side either, so now he was trapped in complete darkness for the who-knows-how-many time in Tartarus.

"Come now, there's no need for _panic_," a smooth voice said from behind Percy. Whipping around, Percy saw a ghostly man that looked about 20 years-old hovering a few feet away. He had short brown hair and wore a simple beige toga over his tan skin. He had a yellow cape flowing behind him in invisible wind, and his eyes were wide open as if he was scared, though they showed no fear at all. Instead, there was power inside them.

"Percy Jackson," the ghost man sighed. He hovered a few feet closer to the demigod so that the Percy could feel his breath. "I must say, I never expected to see you here."

Scooting away from the wall and ghost and out into the open part of the room, Percy uncapped Riptide and held it out in front of him. "Who are you," he demanded, "and how do you know my name?"

"Very brave, bravo son of Poseidon," the spirit clapped, watching him with no emotion to the fact that there was a sword pointed at him. Sailing forward, the ghost passed right through the sword, hovering closer to Percy and resting comfortably with the sword impaled through his midsection.

"I am Amfivallo," he answered simply, not offering up any more information than that.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, putting away Riptide. It clearly had no affect on the ghostly man.

"I'm wondering the same about you," Amfivallo stated, narrowing his eyes at Percy.

"I asked you first."

"I live here," he supplied, gesturing his hands to the room they were in. "Your turn."

"My girlfriend and I fell in here and are on our way to the Doors of Death. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to get Annabeth and go." Percy started toward where the door used to be, but Amfivallo flew around and stopped in front of Percy. "Your little girlfriend will be fine. Trust me. Right now we're busy with our conversation, and it would be very rude to leave in the middle of it."

"Look, I've had a long day, and manners aren't a big priority to me right now," Percy snapped.

"Brave words for such a cowardly soul."

"What?" Percy asked, stunned by Amfivallo's comment.

"You can't possibly believe that you're some big-shot hero," the ghost scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "I _know_ you. I can see it in your eyes. You're weak, useless, and obviously uncapable of protecting the one's you love."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked him, unable to stop the quiver in his voice. He knew deep down inside that he couldn't let this ghost's words get to him, but Amfivallo had struck a nerve. Percy had to be able to protect those he cared about. If he couldn't…if he can't…

"You've lost your mother, your brother, your girlfriend, your friends, so many people, Percy," Amfivallo continued, circling the lone demigod. "Although some have returned to you, others you have been powerless to help."

"Stop," Percy said, too quietly for the ghost to hear. Then, raising his voice, he added, "You're wrong. I have always done the very best I can for everybody."

"Really? What about Bianca Di Angelo? Zoe Nightshade? Silena Beauregaurd? _Charles Beckendorf_?" Pain shot through Percy's heart at the mention of his friend.

"I know you still blame yourself for his death. You know it too. And you're right to blame yourself. It is your fault and always has been. You're a wimp. You can't do anything right. You are a _fraud, _Percy Jackson. Everyone thinks you're this amazing hero, a prodigy, but you're _not. You're a fraud._"

_Don't let it get to you,_ Percy told himself. _He's trying to mess you up. Don't listen to him._ But it was so hard not to. He had some valid points. It was his fault Beckendorf died, wasn't it? He can't protect everyone. He can't…But he has to! He can't lose anyone else. It's his job to protect everyone…but he can't…he can't…can't…

"You're fatal flaw is loyalty, Percy. Though maybe _you_ are the fatal flaw to _them_, huh? Maybe they're too loyal to you and they end up dying because of it!"

Percy felt tears well up in his eyes. Without thinking, he reached in his pocket with a shaking hand and brought out Riptide. He uncapped it and thrust it forward, straight through the heart of Amfivallo. The ghost had no time to become intangible before the celestial bronze blade sunk through his chest and disintegrated him on the spot.

Once the ghost had disappeared, Percy sank to his knees, feeling truly hollow in his heart.

* * *

Annabeth's POV

As soon as the metal wall had crashed down between herself and Percy, Annabeth knew that she had been right. It was a trap and she had known that; next time, she wouldn't give in to Percy's optimism. She would've loved to find water and food in the house, but seriously. A random, old, spooky house appears, and you assume that no, it's not a trap but a safe haven? In Tartarus? Doubtful.

As she was chiding herself over her rash decision, a female voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"It's about time you started thinking for yourself."

Annabeth turned around hurriedly just to find herself face to face with a ghost. Not the kind of ghosts you see in movies, ones that look like bed sheets; no, this was the ghost of someone who'd died.

The woman looked about 18 years old- not much older than Annabeth herself. Her dirty blonde hair was tied back in a long braid, and her maroon colored toga was tied at the waist with a black sash. She had dark tattooes swirling up her right arm, including all sorts of symbols. The word "Zilia" had been displayed on her bicep; Annabeth guessed that that was this ghost's name. Hidden in the mass of images were the markings of a Roman demigod who'd attended Camp Jupiter- dashed lines and an SPQR. While Percy had a trident on his forearm, this ghost had a peacock feather.

"Are you…a child of Hera?" Annabeth asked curiously.

The ghost rolled her eyes. "Obviously not, stupid. Hera doesn't have demigod children."

Annabeth felt her face flush with red. "I am _not_ stupid. And if you're no child of Hera, what's with the tattoo of a peacock feather- her symbol?"

"I don't know who my godly parent is," she replied hautily. "I was unclaimed. I just favor Juno, that's all. I count her as my patron."

"You're not a follower of Gaea, are you?" was Annabeth's next question. So far, most people who had mentioned a 'patron' had been on Gaea's side.

"Are you sure you're not dumb? If I was supporting Gaea, don't you think she would've let me out of Tartarus to help by now?"

Annabeth looked down and didn't ask anymore questions. Every single one she'd asked, the ghost had found a way to retaliate and make her look foolish.

"I do know one thing about Gaea though," Zilia mused as an afterthought.

"What?" Annabeth pushed, looking back up.

"She has you and all your friends on a 'Wanted' list, and your little boyfriend next door is ranked way higher than you."

"That's understandable," Annabeth argued with the ghost. "I mean, he is very powerful, has been part of two Great Prophecies, and is the only demigod son of Poseidon." Annabeth couldn't help but feel a spark of pride at the thought of her boyfriend. "Speaking of him, I need you to get rid of this wall so I can rejoin him and continue our journey to the Doors of Death."

"No can do," Zilia replied casually. "I'm sure he's plenty occupied at the moment."

"What do you m-"

"Never mind him," she interrupted. "I'm sure you're tired of hearing about Percy Jackson everywhere you go."

"What?" Annabeth asked, completely confused. "I'm not tired-"

"Sure you aren't," Zilia interjected again. "You're not tired of being called 'Percy Jackson's sidekick' or 'Percy Jackson's girlfriend.' You're not tired of being paled in comparison to the great and mighty Percy Jackson."

Annabeth's face grew even redder. "I don't mind being paired with him all the time, but I'm nobody's sidekick."

"Oh I know that, but does the world?" the ghost asked. Annabeth was quiet for a moment. The ghost, admittedly, was right about that. Her accomplishments weren't famous, no matter how amazing. It was always 'Percy Jackson' this, and 'Percy Jackson' that. She'd never heard anyone talking about Annabeth Chase and _her_ adventures.

Woah. Where were these thoughts coming from? She'd never thought this way before. _My hubris_, she thought bitterly. _My pride is clouding my thoughts, and this ghost seems to be triggering it._

Of course. In Greek, "Zilia" means "Jealousy." How did she miss that? This woman was trying to make her jealous of her own best friend. Back in Greek myths, Zilia went around installing jealousy in others. She had a brother, too, named Amfivallo. He was the creator of self-doubt. They always traveled in a pair. So, if Zilia was in here talking to Annabeth, that meant-

"I'm sorry, Zilia, but I think its time we end this conversation," Annabeth said before she stabbed her dagger into Zilia, evaporating the ghost into the air.

* * *

**And there you have it! Annabeth and Percy are venturing into the more...mental part of Tartarus. They've been faced with many physical tasks, but nobody yet has tried to mess with their minds. Therefore, Zilia and Amfivallo decided to give it a shot.**

**Thank you time!  
**

**A big thanks to DaughterofHestia13, sitrukpc, OMGitsagreendayfan, and sheltie26 for the favorites, and thank you to DaughterofHestia13, storyteller1333, Helen9957, OMGitsagreendayfan, and sheltie26 for the follows!**

**DaughterofHestia13: Thank you! I know, I wonder what's going to happen when the House of Hades comes out; my Tartarus will be invalid after its real description is released ;) .**

**Hibye: Haha yes, I am trying to keep my updates regular, and I got this in on time! Yay! And yes, they were total bawsses ;) .**

**WarLord of Poseidon: That sounds like a really cool idea! I may have to tweak it a bit, sorry, but I love the idea of Percy and Annabeth meeting their evil selves; when I post that part I'll give you credit for the idea, no worries. It may be a bit before that chapter arrives, but there's a very good chance it _will_ arrive, so stay tuned...**

**8EternallyMortal8: Thank you!**

**Alright, that's it for today! See you all next week!**

**-8DemigodRunner8**


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